“Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.”

—  Theodore Roosevelt

Last update Sept. 29, 2023. History

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Theodore Roosevelt photo
Theodore Roosevelt 445
American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858–1919

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Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

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Context: No man can be a good citizen if he is not at least in process of learning to speak the language of his fellow-citizens. And an alien who remains here without learning to speak English for more than a certain number of years should at the end of that time be treated as having refused to take the preliminary steps necessary to complete Americanization and should be deported. But there should be no denial or limitation of the alien's opportunity to work, to own property, and to take advantage of civic opportunities. Special legislation should deal with the aliens who do not come here to be made citizens. But the alien who comes here intending to become a citizen should be helped in every way to advance himself, should be removed from every possible disadvantage, and in return should be required under penalty of being sent back to the country from which he came, to prove that he is in good faith fitting himself to be an American citizen.

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Quoted in [Burnison, Gary, No Fear of Failure: Real Stories of How Leaders Deal with Risk and Change, http://books.google.com/books?id=0b75eDxhvycC&pg=PA29, 16 March 2011, John Wiley & Sons, 978-1-118-02306-8, 29–]

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