Jose Antonio Vargas Quotes

I am more than an immigration activist.

The largest untapped constituency in American politics are the 300 million American citizens who have been completely left out of the immigration debate.

On immigration reform you don’t get a bill without a path to citizenship .

My grandmother was not a U.S. citizen. Growing up along the border, you see the real human side of immigration - not the picture often drawn by politicians far removed from the border.

We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws.

I'm more than willing to go to places and talk to people who believe that I am an illegal alien who deserves to be jailed. I want to look them in the eye and say, 'What makes you think I'm any different from you?' I think for our generation, immigration rights is a civil rights issue.

As you watch 'Documented' on CNN, I ask you, my fellow Americans: What do you want to do with me? What do you want to do with us? How do you define American?

My thing is every generation of Americans has to answer what we call the 'Superman Question.' Superman comes, lands in America. He's illegal. He's one of these kids. He's wrapped up in a red bullfighter's cape. And you've got to decide what we're gonna do with Superman.

Finally, in my critique of the immigration image of America, it is also important to know that we're not only a nation of immigrants, but we are in some part a nation of emigrants, which often gets neglected.

There should be a pathway to citizenship - not a special pathway and not no pathway.

I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants.

The illegal immigrants may have broken the law, but we have been complicit.

I still passionately support comprehensive immigration reform legislation with a path to full and equal citizenship.

The implication here is that those who came to America legally over the years are somehow second-class citizens.

And we'll build a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants who are already contributing to our economy!

I was one of the founding members of State Legislators for Legal Immigration.

Immigration reform is for those thousands of people in my district and the millions of people across the country who want nothing more than to work hard, provide for their families, and reach for the American Dream.

We need comprehensive immigration reform. Dr. King wouldn't be pleased at all to know that there are millions of people living in the shadow, living in fear in places like Georgia and Alabama.

We all need to call upon our lawmakers to create a path to citizenship for hard-working, law-abiding undocumented people and their families.

The media tends to cover immigration issues through the frame of how it impacts everybody but actual citizens of the United States.

As an immigrant justice advocate, I, of course, want legal status for everyone trying to make it in this country.

I want immigration reform to come into fruition, and I want it to be comprehensive, and I want it to have a path to citizenship, and I want to be involved politically every day.

The story of undocumented immigrants in this country is not just about undocumented immigrants. It's about the country as a whole, and it's about us being able to tell the truth about where we are with this issue because we haven't been telling the truth about where we are with this issue.

I worked for 'The Chronicle' in San Francisco, and immigration is a big issue in that region.

It wouldn't matter whether you were Latino or Hispanic or Norwegian. If you didn't have proof of citizenship and if the police officer had reasonable suspicion, he would ask and verify your citizenship. I mean, that's the way that it is. That's what the federal law says. And that's what the law in Arizona says.