1
The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here.Chuck Palahniuk
2
Needless to say, there are people who hate Arabs, Somalis, and other immigrants from predominantly Muslim societies for racist reasons. But if you can’t distinguish that sort of blind bigotry from a hatred and concern for dangerous, divisive, and irrational ideas–like a belief in martyrdom, or a notion of male “honor” that entails the virtual enslavement of women and girls–you are doing real harm to our public conversation. Everything I have ever said about Islam refers to the content and consequences of its doctrine. And, again, I have always emphasized that its primary victims are innocent Muslims–especially women and girls. .Sam Harris
3
They might watch American movies, wear American clothes, even read American books but Bush and the Iraq War have made actual American people social lepers; she only has to open her mouth in some places to feel a wave of loathing directed at her. Katie is weary of pointing out that at least half her countrymen detest their President even more than Europe does, but it’s no good.Amanda Craig
4
Zoe stopped one last time in front of the mirror, adjusting her new American dress. She didn’t see the dress, however. She saw what the big Russian did to her. She saw what al- Qaeda did to her. She saw a person shunned by her Persian village. She saw ugliness. Every time she looked in the mirror she saw deficiency.Michael Benzehabe
5
Zoe leaned closer to Ruth, nearly nose to nose. “If they were made from better stuff, they would have pretended the fault was theirs. They would have made a moment of it--a pretty moment.Michael Benzehabe
6
Poor Father, I see his final exploration. He arrives at the new place, his hair risen in astonishment, his mouth and eyes dumb. His toe scuffs a soft storm of sand, he kneels and his arms spread in pantomimic celebration, the immigrant, as in every moment of his life, arriving eternally on the shore of his Self.E.L. Doctorow
7
Let me put it this way. Canada is not so much a country as a holding tank filled with the disgruntled progeny of defeated peoples.Mordecai Richler
8
All the way, Zoe kept her chin up and pretended she wasn’t mortified, but his sour expression stayed with her. She wasn’t good at making American friends. She changed her language, conduct, and clothing, but it didn’t seem to matter. Whether she wore modest Middle-Eastern clothing or cute Western fashions, everyone knew she didn’t belong.Michael Benzehabe
9
The immigrant artist shares with all other artists the desire to interpret and possibly remake his or her own world. So though we may not be creating as dangerously as our forebears–though we are not risking torture, beatings, execution, though exile does not threaten us into perpetual silence– still, while we are at work bodies are littering the streets somewhere. People are buried under rubble somewhere. Mass graves are being dug somewhere. Survivors are living in makeshift tent cities and refugee camps somewhere, shielding their heads from the rain, closing their eyes, covering their ears, to shut out the sounds of military “aid” helicopters. And still, many are reading, and writing, quietly, quietly.Edwidge Danticat
10
Repeat after me:1. our immigrant families are not just ‘homophobic’ they are also ‘colonized.’2. our parents have histories, genders, and sexualities, too.3. they are just as broken as we are (but we have the words – i mean the english – to say it)4. the diaspora responds to racism with heteronormativity5. trauma seeps through generationsDarkmatter
11
Am I then more of an American than those who drew their first breath on American Ground?Alexander Hamilton
12
You could have just said Ngozi is your tribal name and Ifemelu is your jungle name and throw in one more as your spiritual name. They’ll believe all kinds of shit about Africa.Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
13
A hothouse flower trained to bloom out of season and in the wrong climate. I do not belong.Karen Levy
14
If we say we believe in equality for all then we must fight for equality for all, not betray our immigrant sisters.Christine Pelosi
15
Learning to distinguish the illegal immigrant from the legal immigrant does not solve the problem of illegal immigration.Jan C. Ting
16
No country in Europe has a larger proportion of men and women of immigrant descent, mainly from the African continent and mainly Muslim: an estimated six to seven million of them, or more than 10% of the population.Timothy Garton Ash
17
Considering our history, I can think of nothing more American than an immigrant.Conor Oberst
18
Every single immigrant we have, undocumented or documented, is a future American. That's just the truth of it.Junot Diaz