Political Quotes

“last Monday the Washington Post newspaper ran an insightful editorial that was entitled ``On Not Blaming Immigrants First.'' The editorial rightly admonished those involved in the immigration debate to avoid the pitfalls made earlier when there were great waves of immigration to the United States. The Post editorial, I think, hit the nail on the head when they said: Off and on since the great waves of immigration in the 1840s and 1850s, politicians have been tempted to explain whatever happened to be ailing the country at the time by blaming newcomers for causing all kinds of problems for which the native-born could not possibly have responsibility. Mr. President, the Post editorial concluded by showing that there are legitimate issues to be raised about immigration, both legal and illegal immigration. And also, under current law, many loopholes exist which allow people to cheat the system. The point is, Mr. President, we need to engage in the politics of constructive reform and avoid the politics of immigrant scapegoating. But we do have to do something about immigration.”