A Nation of Immigrants Quotes

“Every American who ever lived, with the exception of one group, was either an immigrant himself or a descendant of immigrants.”

“But emotions of xenophobia – hatred of foreigners – and of nativism - the policy of keeping America ‘pure’ … continue to thrive”

“The interaction of disparate cultures, the vehemence of the ideals that led the immigrants here, the opportunity offered by a new life, all gave America a flavor and a character that make it as unmistakable and as remarkable to people today as it was to Alexis de Tocqueville in the early part of the nineteenth century.”

“Centuries ago migration was a leap into the unknown. It was an enormous intellectual and emotional commitment.”

“America was to be the great experiment.”

“Little is more extraordinary than the decision to migrate, little more extraordinary than the accumulation of emotions and thoughts which finally leads a family to say farewell to a community where it has lived for centuries, to abandon old ties and familiar landmarks, and to sail across dark seas to a strange land.”

“Immigration is by definition a gesture of faith in social mobility. It is the expression in action of a positive belief in the possibility of a better life. It has thus contributed greatly to developing the spirit of personal betterment in American society and to strengthening the national confidence in change and the future.”

“The search for freedom of worship has brought people to America from the days of the Pilgrims to modern times.”

“In sum, then, we can see that as each new wave of immigration has reached America it has been faced with problems, not only the problems that come with making new homes and learning new jobs, but, more important, the problems of getting along with people of different backgrounds and habits.”

“The forces that moved our forebears to their great decision—the decision to leave their homes and begin an adventure filled with incalculable uncertainly, risk and hardship—must have been of overpowering proportions.”

“Since 1607, when the first English settlers reached the New World, over 42 million people have migrated to the United States.”

“However, under the guise of warning people about the impact of illegal immigration, these anti-immigrant groups often invoke the same dehumanizing racist stereotypes as hate groups.”

“Sociologists call the process of the melting pot “social mobility.” One of America’s characteristics has always been the lack of a rigid class structure. It has traditionally been possible for people to move up the social and economic scale.”

“The history of cities show that when conditions become overcrowded, when people are poor and when living conditions are bad, tensions run high. This is a situation that feeds on itself; poverty and crime in one group breed fear and hostility in others.”

“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.”

“Today we are belatedly, but resolutely, engaged in ending this condition of national exclusion and share and abolishing forever the concept of second-class citizenship in the United States.”

“We have come to realize in modern times that the ‘melting pot’ need not mean the end of particular ethnic identities or traditions.”

“Perhaps our brightest hope for the future lies in the lessons of the past. The people who have come to this country have made America, in the words of one perceptive writer, ‘a heterogeneous race but a homogeneous nation.’ ”

“The forces that moved our forebears to their great decision—the decision to leave their homes and begin an adventure filled with incalculable uncertainly, risk and hardship—must have been of overpowering proportions.”

“The opportunities that America offered made the dream real, at least for a good many; but the dream itself was in large part the product of millions of plain people beginning a new life in the conviction that life could indeed be better, and each new wave of immigration rekindled that dream.”

The hardships that these families face, the prejudices against them, and the overall hate that some individuals have for immigrants are all topics highlighted in the text.