Nancy Pelosi on Passing Amnesty Bill: Let's 'Embrace… Essential Character of Our Country'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told college graduates to “embrace tradition” and the “essential character of our country” by pushing for amnesty legislation.

In her Bard College commencement address on Saturday, Pelosi said that “another boost to our economy and our country is the invigoration and imagination of newcomers to America.” 

“So let’s embrace that tradition, that essential character of our country, by passing comprehensive immigration reform,” Pelosi remarked of the legislation that would put all of the country’s illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship.

Pelosi, who has said that passing amnesty is more important to her than becoming Speaker again, previously said in her address that the “middle class is the backbone of our democracy,” and urged students to build “ladders of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard, take responsibility, and play by the rules – to achieve the American Dream and strengthen the middle class.”

Illegal immigrants did not play by the same rules as legal immigrants, and the Congressional Budget Office has determined that the Senate’s amnesty bill that Pelosi supports would lower the wages of American workers. Last week, U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Peter Kirsanow wrote a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus and asked its Members to oppose amnesty legislation because it would make it tougher for blacks in low-skilled jobs to find jobs and move up the economic ladder.