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If the undocumented have to work hard to attain citizenship, those of us who already are citizens should have to work hard to sustain it. We should all have to serve more, vote more, build more, and do more for our country.

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 fully recognize we need to improve the path to citizenship, just as we need to value the hard work of folks who become American citizens legally.

All of us take offense to anyone who reaps the rewards of living in America without taking on the responsibilities of living in America. And undocumented immigrants who desperately want to embrace those responsibilities see little option but to remain in the shadows, or risk their families being torn apart.

People are frustrated. This is the most generous country in the world when it comes to immigration. There are a million people a year who legally immigrate to the United States, and people feel like we're being taken advantage of. We feel like despite our generosity, we're being taken advantage of.

No group of our citizens can be denied the right to participate in the opportunities of first-class citizenship.

Ours is an open and accepting society, and has historically provided an avenue for lawful immigration to all those willing to accept the responsibilities of citizenship.

In a world of inhumanity, war and terrorism, American citizenship is a very precious possession.

It was a really big deal to become an American citizen the right way. You have to work really hard, and it is such an honor to be able to say that.

No other country on earth could have provided such tremendous opportunities and we should never take the privilege of our citizenship for granted.