I love the new legal immigrants; they want their kids to be safe

There are words that rise from the heart of a people — not born of politics, but of shared humanity. When Lou Barletta said, “I love the new legal immigrants; they want their kids to be safe just like I do,” he spoke not merely as a leader, but as a father and a son of the American soil. In those words lies a simple yet profound truth: that beyond borders, languages, and laws, the desire for safety, dignity, and love binds all human beings together. Barletta’s statement is more than a reflection of policy; it is a recognition of the eternal truth that the immigrant’s dream is the echo of the native’s hope — that every parent, no matter where they come from, seeks peace for their children.

The origin of this quote lies in Barletta’s years as a public official, when debates about immigration were fierce and bitter. As a congressman and former mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, he often stood at the crossroads between compassion and control, between welcoming newcomers and protecting communities. Yet this particular statement breaks through the rhetoric of division. It reminds us that those who come legally, following the path of law and perseverance, do not seek to disrupt but to contribute — to build, to protect, to thrive. In honoring legal immigrants, Barletta affirms both the sanctity of the law and the universality of parental love. It is a bridge between two worlds: the world of order and the world of empathy.

From the dawn of civilization, migration has been the rhythm of humanity’s journey. The Hebrews wandered the desert seeking a promised land; the Greeks colonized distant shores to find prosperity; the pilgrims crossed the Atlantic in search of freedom. Each generation of travelers carried the same unspoken prayer — that their children might live with less fear than they did. Barletta’s words belong to this ancient lineage. He reminds us that to love the immigrant who obeys the law is to honor the very foundation upon which every nation stands: that safety and peace are not privileges, but the rightful inheritance of every family who toils honestly for them.

Consider, for a moment, the story of Andrew Carnegie, who arrived in America as a poor Scottish boy and rose to become one of the world’s great industrialists and philanthropists. His family came legally, seeking survival from poverty. Carnegie’s success was not merely his own — it was a testament to the promise of lawful opportunity. His mother’s dream, simple and unyielding, was that her son might live free from want and fear. Her desire mirrors the heart of every parent, immigrant or native, who longs for their child’s safety. It is this sacred sameness that Barletta’s words honor — the recognition that love of family transcends origin, and that those who come by the path of law strengthen, rather than weaken, the fabric of a nation.

Yet there is wisdom, too, in the restraint of his phrasing. By emphasizing “legal” immigrants, Barletta draws a distinction not of worth, but of principle — that compassion without order leads to chaos, and order without compassion leads to tyranny. The law is the framework upon which freedom rests; it is the fence that guards the garden of civilization. Those who enter through its gate show respect for the land they wish to call home. His love for them, then, is not blind sentiment, but admiration for their discipline, their patience, and their faith in a system that promises reward through righteousness. He sees in them the same virtue that built his own nation — the courage to follow the harder, lawful road.

Still, beyond policy and politics, Barletta’s words touch the soul because they speak to the shared nature of fear and hope. When he says, “they want their kids to be safe just like I do,” he strips away every illusion of difference. In that moment, the immigrant mother in her modest apartment, the local father walking his child to school, the farmer, the soldier, the teacher — all are united in one sacred instinct: to protect life. The ancients would call this philia, the love that binds mankind — the understanding that we are not strangers to one another’s hearts, only to one another’s circumstances.

So let this quote stand not as a fragment of political speech, but as a moral compass for all who live in divided times. It teaches that love of law and love of people must coexist — for neither can survive without the other. It calls us to recognize in every honest immigrant not a threat, but a reflection of ourselves — the same yearning for safety, the same devotion to family, the same faith in the promise of peace. And it warns us, too, to guard the laws that make such safety possible. For when law and compassion walk hand in hand, justice becomes human, and humanity becomes divine.

Let future generations remember these words of Lou Barletta as a call to balance heart and reason. Welcome those who come in peace; uphold the laws that protect the land; and never forget that the love that drives a parent to cross oceans is the same love that built every nation worth defending. For in the end, the world is not divided by borders, but united by the unbreakable will of parents to see their children safe beneath the same sun.