"We should meet this situation by on the one hand seeing that these immigrants get all their rights as American citizens, and on the other hand insisting that they live up to their duties as American citizens. Any discrimination against aliens is a wrong, for it tends to put the immigrant at a disadvantage and to cause him to feel bitterness and resentment during the very years when he should be preparing himself for American citizenship. If an immigrant is not fit to become a citizen, he should not be allowed to come here. If he is fit, he should be given all the rights to earn his own livelihood, and to better himself, that any man can have. Take such a matter as the illiteracy test; I entirely agree with those who feel that many very excellent possible citizens would be barred improperly by an illiteracy test. But why do you not admit aliens under a bond to learn to read and write within a certain time? It would then be a duty to see that they were given ample opportunity to learn to read and write and that they were deported if they failed to take advantage of the opportunity."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Activists from the United StatesMilitary leaders from the United StatesSocial activistsMedal of Honor recipientsNobel laureates from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Theodore Roosevelt
1858 – 1919
26. Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika (1901-1909)
420 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Theodore Roosevelt →
Related Quotes
"We meet to-day, representing the people of this continent, from the Dominion of Canada in the north, to Chile and the…"
"We despise and abhor the bully, the brawler, the oppressor, whether in private or public life, but we despise no less…"
"By sheer force of moral purpose, by clarity of perception, by mastery of detail and benign manipulation of men, he ha…"
"What is the lesson to us to-day? Are we to go the way of the older civilizations? The immense increase in the area of…"
"In many respects there is a complete lack of analogy between the civilization of to-day and the only other civilizati…"
"Hitherto every civilization that has arisen has been able to develop only a comparatively few activities; that is, it…"
"The whole world is bound together as never before; the bonds are sometimes those of hatred rather than love, but they…"
"In new and wild communities where there is violence, an honest man must protect himself; and until other means of sec…"
"Throughout their early stages the movements of civilization—for, properly speaking, there was no one movement—were ve…"
"The people of the United States suffer from periodical financial panics to a degree substantially unknown to the othe…"