Quote

I think what we need to do is to have an immigration system where legal immigration is easier.

Next, we will create a modern immigration law.

As legal residents, immigrants would contribute more in taxes, spend more at our businesses, start companies of their own and create more jobs. Immigration is not a problem for us to solve but an opportunity for America to seize.

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

Although it requires some adjustment by those already here, immigration has made the U.S.A. the most prosperous nation on Earth.

I think the key to getting rid of illegal immigration, no matter where its coming from, is that you need to have a good legal apparatus for immigration.

Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, our Nation depends on immigrants' labor, and I hope we can create an immigration system as dependable as they are.

It's much too easy to come here illegally and very, very difficult to become an immigrant through lawful process. I think we need to reverse those.

You reduce illegal immigration by making it harder to get jobs here, or easier to get jobs south of the border. This idea that we can't pass an immigration law until we hit some imaginary security target is just a way to derail reform.