Immigrant Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old immigrant quotes, immigrant sayings, and immigrant proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Like all immigrants, he seemed to have an unerring instinct for the oldest, truest words in his new language. The way he said the word, it felt free of the treacherous weight of mate. Richard Flanagan
Immigrant children are highly vulnerable. Their level of disadvantage and fragility has consistently grown due to factors outside their control. Irwin Redlener
We should embrace our immigrant roots and recognize that newcomers to our land are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution. Roger Mahony
The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here. Chuck Palahniuk
These immigrants held out the hope of a new golden age for the old continent. Michel Houellebecq
Being an immigrant is not for sissies. Helen Russell
Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country. Theodore Roosevelt
Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity. Jeb Bush
One of the great pluses of being an immigrant is you get to start again in terms of your identity. You get to shed the narratives which cling to you. Joseph O'Neill
Every single immigrant we have, undocumented or documented, is a future American. That's just the truth of it. Junot Diaz
To the newcomer who has not learned its language, a large city is a chaos of details, a vast Woolworths store of differently colored, simlarly priced objects. Jonathan Raban
Like other important immigrant communities, the Jewish experience in the United States represents the ideal of freedom and the promise and opportunity of America. Jan Schakowsky
Stability and security are just illusions. But they are necessary illusions because without them there would be no way of going on. Andrew Crofts
Once you are an immigrant, you never forget that you are one. Jorge Ramos
Learning to distinguish the illegal immigrant from the legal immigrant does not solve the problem of illegal immigration. Jan C. Ting
We of alien looks or words must stick together. C.J. Sansom
Immigrant: An unenlightened person who thinks one country better than another. Ambrose Bierce
Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life. John F. Kennedy
Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity, until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Barack Obama
Immigration is not just compatible with but is a necessary component of economic growth. Dave Reichert
Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists. Franklin D. Roosevelt
I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong. George Washington
Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery. Jack Paar
America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts. James Madison
If you want to stop illegal immigration, you have to make it so that - so that the people that hire the illegal immigrants will not be in a position to hire them. Jesse Ventura
Immigration policy should be generous it should be fair; it should be flexible. With such a policy we can turn to the world, and to our own past, with clean hands and a clear conscience. John F. Kennedy
I have only one loyalty and that's to the immigrant community. Luis Gutierrez
People come here penniless but not cultureless. They bring us gifts. We can synthesize the best of our traditions with the best of theirs. We can teach and learn from each other to produce a better America. Mary Pipher
Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history. Oscar Handlin
Immigration is one of the leading contributors to population growth. Paul Watson
Our attitude towards immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as the talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances. Robert F. Kennedy
A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in. And how many want out. Tony Blair
The simple fact is that we must not-and we will not-surrender our borders to those who wish to exploit our history of compassion and justice. William J. Clinton
Let me be clear we are still a nation of immigrants, and we honor all those immigrants who are working hard to become new citizens. William J. Clinton