Eliot Engel: “To my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, let me just say, have a little compassion. These children came here.…”

“To my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, let me just say, have a little compassion. These children came here. They didn't decide to come here. They know no other country. Some of them can't even speak the language of the country in which they were born, and they deserve to have a right as free Americans. I am a grandson of four immigrants from Eastern Europe, and my grandparents would be proud to see their grandson as a Member of the U.S. Congress. How many of these other children can flourish and be Members of Congress or do other things? We do need comprehensive immigration reform in this country. This is not it, so we shouldn't attack it because it's it. We ought to have a little compassion. The sky is not falling if this becomes law. It will be good for all of us.”