The Biggies on Immigration

No doubt, the debate over immigration reform will play a part in the presidential and congressional campaigns over the coming three-and-a-half months.

Unfortunately, some, but certainly not all, conservatives have drifted uncomfortably into the anti-immigration camp. They ignore the importance that immigration plays in our economy – in terms of, for example, giving a boost to entrepreneurship, meeting the labor demands of U.S. businesses and consumers, and aiding economic growth.

But perhaps it’s also worth keeping mind a few points made by leading Americans over the years on immigrants and their broad impact on the U.S. In late June, the National Immigration Forum released a collection of quotes from notables in late June.

Those included:

• The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations And Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.

- George Washington

• Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the Mayflower, or three years to the steerage, is not half so important as whether his Americanism of today is real and genuine. No matter by what various crafts we came here, we are all now in the same boat.

- Calvin Coolidge

• Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.

- John F. Kennedy

• I received a letter just before I left office from a man. I don’t know why he chose to write it, but I’m glad he did. He wrote that you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German, an Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan and other countries. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in the United States and become an American.

- Ronald Reagan

• I’ve always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world.

- Alan Greenspan

• When you enlisted into the armed forces you swore to support and defend a Constitution that did not yet fully apply to you. You chose to endure the same sacrifices as your fellow comrades in arms to preserve the freedom of a land that was not yet fully yours. You accepted that you might have to pay the ultimate price on behalf of a nation to which you did not fully belong. Now, you will officially become citizens of the United States, a country to which each of you has already borne true faith and allegiance in your hearts and your deeds.

- Gen. Petraeus addressing a naturalization ceremony for 161 at Camp Victory, Iraq, on Independence Day, 2007