In his farewell address to the nation, President Ronald Reagan said: "I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still." And that is how we see it, too.

America is a nation of immigrants. Except for Native American Indians, everyone in this country came to America or is here due to the good fortune that a parent, grandparent, or other relation came before them. Keeping a door open to those with the “will and heart to get here” is vital to our economy, our culture, our role in the world, and our historic tradition as a land of freedom and opportunity.

Conservatives believe in legal immigration. We believe that America grows stronger by welcoming those who seek to better their families, work in our industries, and find liberty and refuge from oppression.

Conservatives oppose illegal immigration. We believe there is a right way and a wrong way to immigrate to the United States. However, as conservatives we believe that our laws must reflect reality and common sense, and be both fiscally responsible and avoid the loss of innocent life. Our current immigration laws do not pass this test.

Between 1990 and 2000, the United States increased the number of U.S. Border Patrol Agents from 3,600 to 10,000. During that same period illegal immigration rose by 5.5. million. Moreover, over the past 8 years, more than 2,000 men, women, and children have died attempting to cross into America and seek the opportunity to work and achieve a better life. The status quo is unacceptable and clinging to the status quo – or tougher versions of it – is neither conservative, nor principled. It has become clear that the only viable approach to reform is combining enforcement with additional legal avenues for those who wish to work in our economy, while also addressing the situation of those already here in the United States.

President George W. Bush has proposed a new legal path to work in the United States through a temporary worker program that will match willing workers with willing employers. We applaud the President and believe his approach holds great promise to reduce illegal immigration and establish a humane, orderly, and economically sensible approach to migration that will aid homeland security and free up border security assets to focus on genuine threats. The President has shown courage by calling on Congress to place reality over rhetoric and recognize that those already working here outside the law are unlikely to leave. Congress can fulfill its role by establishing sufficient increases in legal immigration and paths to permanent residence to enable more workers to stay, assimilate, and become part of America.

We believe strongly in assimilation and oppose efforts to weaken the historical process that has led to epluribus unum – out of many, one. While immigrants by and large reject entreaties by those who favor multiculturalism, the best defense is a good offense: making the teaching of English and U.S. civics a priority in our schools, community colleges, and adult education programs.

Immigrants are crucial to America’s competitiveness and future labor and economic growth, as well as our military strength. Our country’s welcoming attitude to immigrants will permit the United States to grow and prosper, as the populations of many other nations stagnate and decline.

In riding the wings of destiny, each generation of Americans must connect our nation’s past to its future. We believe that America’s tradition as a nation of immigrants must remain our future.

Stuart Anderson
Executive Director
National Foundation for American Policy

Jeff Bell
Principal
Capital City Partners

Linda Chavez
President
Center for Equal Opportunity

Larry Cirignano
President
Catholic Alliance/CatholicVote.org

Cesar V. Conda
Former Assistant for Domestic Policy to Vice President Cheney and Board Member of Empower America

Francis Fukuyama
Dean of Faculty
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Richard Gilder

Hon. Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives

Ed Goeas
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Tarrance Group

Tamar Jacoby
Senior Fellow
Manhattan Institute

Hon. Jack Kemp
1996 Republican Vice Presidential nominee, former Representative from New York, and Co-director of Empower America

Steve Moore
Senior Fellow
Cato Institute

Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform

Richard W. Rahn
Senior Fellow
Discovery Institute

Hon. Malcolm Wallop
Former U.S. Senator from Wyoming and Chairman of Frontiers of Freedom

*Affiliations listed for identification purposes only