Lamar S. Smith Quotes

I do not favor or support, nor will I vote for, a pathway to citizenship for people that are here who've broken the law. I would support - after we have developed a secure border - a mechanism for allowing those folks to work here in America... Everything that we should do should be based on good, sound policy and what's right for America.

Washington, D.C. is what is broken, not the immigration policies. We have good laws. We have people suffer every day because of government's failure to enforce the law and be respectful to the process we have. We have a pathway to citizenship already in place.

Whether we start with a provisional status and legal permanent residence... or we set up some other way to assimilate legally, you can't ever put in something that says, 'You can never become a citizen.' That's un-American.

Quite frankly, I think if a man or a woman likes their American job, wherever they were born, they should be able to keep that job. We need a clear path to citizenship for workers who are already here and a fair and efficient on-ramp for those who want to come here.

I'm for anything that lets people come here to work legally. There are more protections for workers who are here legally than for those who are not. It's also safer for the workers and employers have a more consistent pool of workers.

These are people who haven't gone through the legal means to becoming citizens like our forefathers did. They want all the benefits but none of the responsibilities.

So we still need a permanent fix. The president would sign the Dream Act tomorrow, the next day, the day after that. That's ultimately the only way to fix this, is for congressional action.

We should have a path to legal status for the 12 million people that are here illegally. It means, come out from the shadows, pay a fine, earn legal status by working, by paying taxes, learning English. Not committing crimes and earn legal status where you're not cutting in front of the line for people that are patiently waiting outside.

I'm for the DREAM Act. It makes so much sense. Following the implementation of the DREAM Act, we'll have a case study we can point to where we can say that we provided a path to citizenship or legal involvement in the community for these young immigrants, and the sky didn't fall.

We don't want two-tier people in America. Those who are legal but not citizens, and citizens.

There should be a pathway to citizenship - not a special pathway and not no pathway.

For the undocumented immigrants, the big priority is just to get out from the shadows, be able to get a driver's license, buy an airplane ticket and stop worrying about sudden deportation. But for the country as a whole, it's crucial that everybody have a citizen's stake in the nation's welfare.

We are not going to round up and deport 12 million people, but we're not going to hand out citizenship cards, either. There will be a process. We will see what the American people are willing to support. But it will not be unconstitutional executive orders like the ones Barack Obama has forced on us.

Everyone that've been here, working, living as Americans - just give them a green card.

What we wouldn't want to see is just a piece of legislation on border security and high tech immigration without focusing on the path to citizenship for the 11 million people who are here, and other provisions.

I think there's no problem getting through the House a pathway to legal status. A pathway to citizenship is going to be tougher, but I think it is potentially doable, if we can show the American people that the border is secure.

People who have been hardworking, tax paying, those people ought to be given an opportunity to be on a track that leads towards citizenship, and if that happened, then they wouldn't be prey to the employers who say, 'We want you because we know that you work for a salary we could not lawfully pay anyone else.'

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

The Dream Act as it's been written originally is too broad, to be honest. It basically would apply to too many people.

Staple a green card to their diploma - welcome to the United States of America! We want those people in our country.

We should encourage people who have lived here peacefully for years to earn legal status over time.

I just always believe that we should not reward people with citizenship whose first act in this country was a violation of the law. And I continue to hold that view. But let me say, I think there is plenty of room here for compassion. And there's plenty of room here for crafting a solution that will deal with this issue in the long term.

Any proposal that allows people who are here illegally to cut to the front of the line is amnesty.

Indeed, many immigrants do not even desire U.S. citizenship, preferring a work visa that would allow them to work seasonally and to legally cross the border into their home country as needed.

We have 11 million people in this country that need a pathway to citizenship.