We invite skilled workers to come to America from all over the world to fill the good jobs that are waiting here. I think that’s great. Immigration is part of our life’s blood. It’s part of the essence of who
we are as Americans. I am the son of immigrants. But I also want our kids here educated and trained for those jobs. We owe it to them, and we’ve got to get on with the task right now.
Source: Speech at the Republican convention
, Jul 30, 2000
Value today’s immigrant as much as Mayflower descendant
A nation as great and diverse as America deserves leadership that opens its arms not only to those who have already reaped the rewards of the American Dream, but to those who strive and struggle each day often against daunting odds to make
that dream come true. The Hispanic immigrant who became a citizen yesterday must be as precious to us as a Mayflower descendant; -- the descendant of a slave or of a struggling miner in Appalachia must be as welcome in our party as any other American.
Source: Speech to the Republican National Convention
, Aug 12, 1996
Hispanic immigrant today as precious as Mayflower descendant
In his "I am a Republican" speech, at the Republican Party Convention, San Diego, California, USA, Monday 12 August 1996, Powell said, "The Hispanic immigrant that became a citizen yesterday must be as precious to us as a Mayflower descendant."
Powell gets his audience onside by relating his own experience of what America can give: "My parents found here a compassionate land, with a compassionate people.
They found a government that protected their labor, educated their children and provided help to those of their fellow citizens who were needy. They found their dream in America and they passed that dream on to their children.
Here tonight, over seventy years after they landed on these shores, their son has been given the privilege of addressing the Republican Party."
