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Dennis Kucinich on Immigration
"And what about the people that have been here? Do we send millions of people back across the border, make them pay heavy fines when they have been good productive people in our society? I don't think so. I think people have to have a path to legalization. And I think their children have to have access to services. I think that people that are paying taxes and making a contribution should be regarded as such."
"Yes, I'm for amnesty. Yes, I'm for legalization of status. Yes, I'm for broadening citizenship possibilities."
Q: Should it become easier for undocumented foreign workers in the US to gain legal immigration status? KUCINICH: Yes. I will clear out the backlog in the naturalization process and offer immigrants a clear road map to citizenship. I will work with our partners in Mexico to normalize the flow of immigrants by forging an agreement on migration.
Associated Press policy Q&A, "Immigration" Jan 25, 2004
Kucinich believes that the United States must offer immigrants a clear path to citizenship
"We need to stop blaming the victims," Kucinich said. "They need a path to citizenship."
"...[T]he immigrant workers who have come north of the border were there because, after NAFTA passed, wages collapsed in Mexico, the peso dropped, and people were desperate to survive... So they came north of the border and they were willing to work for next to nothing. It is a blot on American history that we have maintained a system of slave labor and now we're blaming the immigrants for that... [W]e can have sane immigration policies... but we have to stop blaming the victims. We have to start enforcing labor law. We have to start enforcing laws that relate to corporate conduct ... but we have to also make sure that we do not exclude people from an opportunity. Those who have been here, who have paid their taxes and paid their dues and been part of our economy for the last decade need to have a chance to have a path to citizenship."
[Kucinich] spoke out against the raids on immigrants, against the planned wall, against the guest worker programs, and against the trade agreements that have been keeping the wages down on both sides of the borders.
Voted NO on the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexican border
[Kucinich] spoke out against the raids on immigrants, against the planned wall, against the guest worker programs, and against the trade agreements that have been keeping the wages down on both sides of the borders.
"Q: The question is: Would you allow these sanctuary cities to disobey the federal law? KUCINICH: You know what? The federal law -- there's a moral law here. Q: All right. KUCINICH: And the moral law says that the immigrants are being used and mistreated."
Voted NO to prevent State and local governments who refuse to share information with Federal immigration authorities from obtaining Federal funds under the Homeland Security Appropriations Act.
Rep. Kucinich YES on the Marshall Amendment to H.R. 5441, the fiscal year 2007 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill. The Marshall Amendment would fund USCIS electronic employment eligibility verification program
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I want you to raise your hand if you believe English should be the official language of the United States (Kucinich does not raise his hand)