Michael Chertoff Quotes

We need employer sanctions to avoid illegal immigration so that legal immigration may dominate.

If we in fact were to begin enforcing the law against people who are hiring people who are here illegally, we would go a long way towards eliminating the problem.

I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants.

People have to stop employing illegal immigrants.

I’ve yet to see a customer walk out of a restaurant because his dishes were being washed by an illegal alien.

The simple answer to the illegal alien problem is to secure our boarders and enforce the law.

The Federal Government does not control our borders as the law requires …. I haven’t received a response saying that the check is in the mail….When people illegally cross our borders that the Federal Government is supposed to control, the Federal Government should pick up the tab.

Part of our sovereignty as a nation is having an immigration law that we can enforce.

We all agree on the need to better secure the border and to punish employers who choose to hire illegal immigrants. We are a generous and welcoming people, here in the United States, but those who enter the country illegally, and those who employ them, disrespect the rule of law and they are showing disregard for those who are following the law.

The American people are a welcoming and generous people. But those who enter our country illegally, and those who employ them, disrespect the rule of law. And because we live in an age where terrorists are challenging our borders, we simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, and unchecked. Americans are right to demand better border security and better enforcement of the immigration laws.

Our communities will become more - not less - dangerous when local police officers are pulled from their duties to arrest otherwise law-abiding maids, busboys, and day laborers for immigration violations.

Extending amnesty to those who came here illegally or overstayed their visas is dangerous waters...We are a nation of laws, and I will evaluate any proposal through that matrix.

These guidelines contemplate a policy that will grant special benefits to illegal immigrants based on their unlawful presence in the country.

An employer verification system must be implemented to ensure jobs are not given to illegal immigrants.

We are going to enforce the law of America and strengthen immigration and customs enforcement with more resources and personnel to be able to do that, and then Donald Trump has made it clear. Once we have done all of those things, then we are going to reform the immigration system that we have in this country.

Illegal immigration is going to stop. It's dangerous.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a great guy. He endorsed me because I'm the best in immigration. And I think by his definition of the best, it's the best and the toughest.

Hillary Clinton and I will do immigration enforcement and we'll vet refugees based on whether they're dangerous or not, we won't do it based on discriminating against you from the country you come from or the religion that you come from.

My policy will be to detain and deport every illegal alien who is apprehended in this country. And we'll do it with an expedited hearing process so that millions of illegal aliens are not released into the general population with some hearing date down the road.

It's all about who gets to work and making sure they're legally present in our country. And to do that nationally E-verify becomes a key component. It certainly needs to available, effective and as inexpensive as possible and that employer needs to use it as a tool. Some of the arguments that are made about how it works or does not work don't carry much water with me. I've already used it for several years. It works.

Even as we are a nation of immigrants, we’re also a nation of laws. Undocumented workers broke our immigration laws, and I believe that they must be held accountable – especially those who may be dangerous. That’s why, over the past six years, deportations of criminals are up 80 percent. And that’s why we’re going to keep focusing enforcement resources on actual threats to our security. Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom who’s working hard to provide for her kids. We’ll prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day.

I think we need a real plan, which is why I have offered a much more specific approach to securing the border, fixing the legal immigration system and addressing illegal immigration.

It simply doesn't make any sense for us to have illegal aliens in our custody in our courts and then let them go back to living here illegally. That's wrong and we should stop it.

I have traveled to Florida, I have traveled to Georgia, I have traveled to California, you and I both know that there are millions of undocumented workers that work hard, sweat soil every day to put the food we eat on our table. That's not a myth, that's a reality. Why don't we let them come with visas to this country so that then we don't have people using that border.

No one believed [the 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens] was tough enough on illegal immigration, and it didn't give enough flexibility on future legal immigration.