Mitt Romney Quotes

We should not blur the lines between legal and illegal immigrants. Millions of people around the world have gone through the process to come here legally and they followed the rules that required them to pay a fee, learn English, and learn about American history and government.

Like all other law-abiding Americans, I fully support legal immigration.

I very firmly believe that we have to make sure that we enforce our borders, that we have an employment verification system, and that those people who have come here illegally do not get an advantage to become permanent residents, they do not get a special pathway.

Ending illegal immigration only strengthens legal immigration.

...you're never going to have a legal immigration system that works if you grant amnesty.

We must fix our broken immigration system. That means stopping illegal immigration. And it means welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of their race or religion. Just like we have for centuries.

Illegal immigration continues to be a major problem in the United States. We have people waiting to come here legally. And we should not be rewarding people who have come here illegally.

I support legal immigration. I don't support amnesty because it is not fair to people standing in line at consulates around the world.

The reason we have to close the back door of illegal immigration is so that we may keep open the front door of legal immigration.

We need employer sanctions to avoid illegal immigration so that legal immigration may dominate.

We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently, and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.

I think the key to getting rid of illegal immigration, no matter where its coming from, is that you need to have a good legal apparatus for immigration.

In order to create real, long-lasting reform, we must create a pathway to legal status for the millions of undocumented immigrants who have made lives for themselves and their families in the United States.

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

Open borders would be clear access to this country without going through a legal immigration process, and that's exactly what Mrs. Clinton is wanting us to do.

I think what we need to do is to have an immigration system where legal immigration is easier.

We must enforce the laws we have on the books, secure our borders, and deny special benefits to illegal immigrants such as in-state tuition rates. This approach is best for American citizens and is fair to those who have taken the time and effort to go through the legal immigration process.

If we can find a way to enforce our laws and keep people from coming into our country illegally while maintaining a strong legal immigration system, I think that's going to benefit everyone. If you come here illegally, and you commit a crime, you're not going to be able to stay in our country.

One simple rule: no amnesty, no special pathway to citizenship.

Granting amnesty to people who broke the law penalizes the millions of people who are waiting to come to America legally.

Our message to the world will be this. You cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country. That's right. People will know that you can't just smuggle in, hunker down, and wait to be legalized. It's not going to work that way. Those days are over.

No path to citizenship. People that want to gain legal status, you heard Donald Trump say again and again, will have to leave the country.

[Illegal immigration] costs the taxpayers of the United States a lot of money. And it's unfair to Americans who are working every day to pay their own bills. It's also unfair to a lot of people who have waited in line for years and years in other countries to be legal immigrants.

I happen to believe in immigration reform but I don't believe that that means that every person who has come into America should be able to stay.

We're going to have people come into our country, but they're going to come in legally, legally.