James Stockdale Quotes

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?

We don't want two-tier people in America. Those who are legal but not citizens, and citizens.

I support legal immigration.

Our nation relies on immigrants.

Humanity does not come with citizenship or a green card.

My own wife is from the Philippines and came here legally to this country, and there are a lot of people that want to be part of this nation, and I want them to be part of this nation.

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

My father, a refugee from Eastern Europe, was preparing a fraudulent marriage to an American citizen as a route to this country when he was sponsored, making fraud unnecessary. My wife's grandfather bought papers from another Chinese villager to be able to come to the United States.

Quite frankly, I think if a man or a woman likes their American job, wherever they were born, they should be able to keep that job. We need a clear path to citizenship for workers who are already here and a fair and efficient on-ramp for those who want to come here.

My folks came to U.S. as immigrants, aliens, and became citizens. I was born in Boston, a citizen, went to Hollywood and became an alien.

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.

Every time anybody in Washington talks about legal status, amnesty, anything of that nature, it becomes a magnet that lures people in quickly into the United States.

You hear stories like that of Canadians trying to get in, but when you go back home, you don't expect that.

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.

I love immigrants. Legal, illegal - they're not to be despised.

Like all other law-abiding Americans, I fully support legal immigration.

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

Of course, everyone in the New World is an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants, and immigrants have built America and continue to do so. Legal or illegal, they are almost universally good people who work to better their lot and that of their children.

For the undocumented immigrants, the big priority is just to get out from the shadows, be able to get a driver's license, buy an airplane ticket and stop worrying about sudden deportation. But for the country as a whole, it's crucial that everybody have a citizen's stake in the nation's welfare.

I support legal immigration. I don't support amnesty because it is not fair to people standing in line at consulates around the world.

The simple truth is that we’ve lost control of our own boarders.

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

You who are so-called “illegal aliens” must know that no human being is illegal.

The policy is anyone who's here illegally is here illegally, does not have the right to be here. We'll decide whether it's in our interest to let them stay or not. Perhaps it is in our interest to let some of them stay.

To provide a welcoming path to citizenship for immigrants and to restore our civil liberties, our foreign policy platform is very important.