Steve King Quotes

Well, I don't think it is amnesty to start with. Second of all, what do you want to do with them? That is the question in response. And third of all, it is a tough path to citizenship. You have to pay back taxes. You've got to learn English. You've got to have a clear record. You've got to get to the back of the line behind other people who have come here legally or waiting legally. So, i just reject that.

If they [mexicans] cross the border, I think, and they are violating the law, then that word criminal does connect with that violation, so if they're violating the law, I guess you can call them criminals. We call everybody else criminals that violate the law.

We are dealing with the question of the 11 million people paying their taxes, having a path to legalization and, then, ultimately, to citizenship. Tough issues but we are coming together and I think we can do it.

No path to citizenship. People that want to gain legal status, you heard Donald Trump say again and again, will have to leave the country.

You know, the eleven million people living in the shadows, I believe, they're already American citizens... These people are just waiting, waiting for a chance to contribute fully. And by that standard alone eleven million undocumented aliens are already Americans in my view.

We're going to show great heart. DACA is a very, very difficult subjects, one of the most difficult. You have these incredible kids in many cases, not in all cases, in some of the cases they are gang members and drug dealers, too. But you have some absolutely incredible kids, I would say mostly. They were brought here in such a way, it's a very, very tough subject.

Donald Trump wants to look at this situation [with immigrants] and deal with it in a humane way, and quite frankly, you know, I think this is the kind of thing people expect from a president of the United States.

I want immigration reform to pass, I want people to be able to come out of the shadows.

We have to deal with the 11 million individuals who are here illegally. The bill that Senator [Marco] Rubio put forward, I think is a great place to start.

I do think we should be focused on substance and record. If you want a candidate who opposes amnesty, who opposes citizenship for the 12 million people here illegally, I'm the only candidate in the race who opposes that.

Any new pathway to citizenship is completely off the table ... [Illegal immigrants should be able to get citizenship] the same way as any other immigrant has to do it ... You have to apply for legal permanent residence, be it family-based or employment-based. You shouldn't be treated worse than the people doing it the right way, but I think it would be unconscionable for us to treat them better than the people who are doing it the right way.

Together, undocumented people like me and our relatives, friends and allies wait for broader immigration reform, not just for Dreamers but also for undocumented workers of all ages and backgrounds who contribute to our economic security and prosperity.

Look, folks, everybody knows we're not gonna kick these DREAMers out of the country. I know that a lot of people think that we should have no mercy here on... "Mercy" is the wrong word. That, if we're gonna have border security, we're gonna have border security. If you're illegal and you're here illegally, you gotta go back and try to get in legally. I understand that.

These are people who haven't gone through the legal means to becoming citizens like our forefathers did. They want all the benefits but none of the responsibilities.

I do not support driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.

There used to be a tradition within the Hispanic community that, regardless of your political party, you would support undocumented immigrants. That ended with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

DACA, to me personally, and the DREAM Act are very personal and mean an awful lot.

The Dream Act as it's been written originally is too broad, to be honest. It basically would apply to too many people.

Any proposal that allows people who are here illegally to cut to the front of the line is amnesty.

I supported this bill. I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and who have lived here even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.

I knew Arizona's SB 1070 would be controversial when I introduced it, but I did not expect the national immigration debate to revolve around a state law. While the anti-American open-borders Left attack me and the law as 'racist,' 'nativist' and their other empty smear words, the vast majority of the people of Arizona and America support the law.

We have 11 million people in this country that need a pathway to citizenship.

We can't go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in an illegal status. We cannot forever have children who were born here - who were brought here by their parents when they were small children to live in the shadows, as well... What's changed, honestly, is that there is a new appreciation on both sides of the aisle, maybe more importantly on the Republican side, that we need to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

We feel a pathway to citizenship would reward illegal activity, ... Amnesty encourages further illegal immigration.

Some people would say we're already under attack by aliens - not space aliens, but illegal aliens.