Notable Immigrants

Madeleine Albright

“We will not be intimidated or pushed off the world stage by people who do not like what we stand for, and that is, freedom, democracy and the fight against disease, poverty and terrorism.”
–- Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright has lived her life refusing to be intimidated. As the daughter of a Czech diplomat who supported the country’s fledgling democracy, she spent much of her young life as a World War II refugee. Fleeing communism, the family eventually sought political asylum in the United States. Perhaps she inherited her desire for public service from her father but she soon charted her own course in world politics.

While serving as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and becoming the first female Secretary of State, she not only stood up for democracy and freedom but also for innocent victims around the world. She was among the first to fight to end the Rwandan genocide, had a large impact on U.S. policy toward Bosnia and Herzegovina, and boycotted a portion of Hong Kong’s transfer of sovereignty ceremony when China replaced the elected legislature with an appointed one. And always, by standing up for what she believed in,she refused to allow the United States to be pushed off the world stage.

On this year’s Statue of Liberty Day, join us in celebrating Lady Liberty’s purpose – to welcome newcomers to our shores. And on this important day, let’s take the time to remember the countless contributions of the millions of immigrants she has helped to greet and welcome along the way.

Alexander Graham Bell

"Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do so you will be certain to find something that you have never seen before. Follow it up, explore all around it, and before you know it, you will have something worth thinking about to occupy your mind. All really big discoveries are the results of thought."
-- Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was born with a deep respect for sound, human speech and alternative means of communication. His father was an expert on “discernible speech” while his mother was deaf. This combination spurred Alexander’s creativity and curiosity to do what others thought was impossible – transmit voice signals over a wire. His constant desire to find things he had never seen (or heard) before eventually led to his invention of the “electrical speech machine,” now known as the telephone.

By emigrating from Scotland to Canada and eventually the United States, Alexander’s parents tried to save their last remaining son from the ravages of tuberculosis. By doing so they facilitated and encouraged perhaps the most profound technological invention in American history.

On this year’s Statue of Liberty Day, join us in celebrating Lady Liberty’s purpose – to welcome newcomers to our shores. And on this important day, let’s take the time to remember the countless contributions of the millions of immigrants she has helped to greet and welcome along the way.

Albert Einstein

“Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.”
-- Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein didn’t recognize the boundaries of thought or of nations. While he technically had three nationalities in his lifetime (German, Swiss and American), Albert Einstein is best described as a citizen of the world in his scientific endeavors and in his life.

To him, the theory of relativity spread beyond gravity and science. He dedicated his life to creating a holistic and comprehensive science of physics and viewed the world the same way. Authoring more than 300 scientific articles and over 150 other works on subjects from socialism, world government and racism, Einstein was pioneer in so much more than physics. He travelled the world and chose to become a citizen of the United States in his 60s because he valued the rights of individuals to free thought and speech. Even in this decision, creativity without limits defined his life.

On this year’s Statue of Liberty Day, join us in celebrating Lady Liberty’s purpose – to welcome newcomers to our shores. And on this important day, let’s take the time to remember the countless contributions of the millions of immigrants she has helped to greet and welcome along the way.

Jaime Escalante

"…(Y)ou do not enter the future -- you create the future. The future is created through hard work."
-- Jaime Escalante

Hard work and education allow us all to create our own future. Jaime Escalante learned that lesson from his parents, who were both teachers in an Aymara Indian village in his native Bolivia. He shared the lesson while teaching and continuing his own education in Bolivia for over 10 years, laying the groundwork to create his future. Upon immigrating to the United States, he lived that lesson and built his future through learning English and attending night school, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from California State University. Escalante then dedicated his life to teaching high school students complex subjects such as calculus and physics. More importantly, he taught some of the most underprivileged and “unteachable” students in America to stand and deliver by taking control of their own future through hard work.

On this year’s Statue of Liberty Day, join us in celebrating Lady Liberty’s purpose – to welcome newcomers to our shores. And on this important day, let’s take the time to remember the countless contributions of the millions of immigrants she has helped to greet and welcome along the way.

Patrick Ewing

"He has a heart of a champion. When you thought about New York, you thought of Patrick Ewing. He came and gave life back into the city."
-- Michael Jordan

You could measure Patrick Ewing’s legacy by the statistics: he is one of four players in NBA history to compile 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. He was an NBA All-Star for 11 years and won two Olympic gold medals.

But some of his most important accomplishments cannot be measured by the endless number of basketball statistics. His family slowly immigrated to the United States from Jamaica with his mother coming first and saving enough money to bring her children and husband here one by one. Once in the U.S., Patrick quickly became fascinated watching other kids play basketball on the playgrounds of Cambridge,Massachusetts. Years later, this same poor immigrant from Jamaica who grew up playing cricket and soccer came to represent hope to a struggling basketball team – and city.

On this year’s Statue of Liberty Day, join us in celebrating Lady Liberty’s purpose – to welcome newcomers to our shores. And on this important day, let’s take the time to remember the countless contributions of the millions of immigrants she has helped to greet and welcome along the way.

Peter Jennings

“There are a lot of people in this business who believe that part of our job is to reassure the public every night ... I subscribe to leaving people with essentially a rough draft of history. Some days it is reassuring, some days it is absolutely destructive.”
– Peter Jennings

From Vietnam to the Munich Olympics to Y2K to September 11, Peter Jennings gave more than a rough draft. He was the voice of modern American history. Yet this Canadian high school graduate didn’t become a U.S. citizen until 2003. Whatever his motivations for foregoing citizenship for so long and finally becoming a dual citizen after close to 40 years living and working in the United States, his impact on the nation is clear. He was a steady presence in American living rooms for some of our most anticipated moments and for the most unimaginable events.

On this year’s Statue of Liberty Day, join us in celebrating Lady Liberty’s purpose – to welcome newcomers to our shores. And on this important day, let’s take the time to remember the countless contributions of the millions of immigrants she has helped to greet and welcome along the way.

Elie Wiesel

"Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe."
– Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel’s understanding of the need to protect human dignity undoubtedly arises from the suffering and humiliation he endured during the Holocaust. While his mother, a younger sister and his father all perished at the hands of the Nazis, Elie survived. As a survivor, he feels the obligation to speak out, not only for Jews and other victims of the Nazi death camps, but for voiceless victims of atrocities around the world. For his efforts, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and countless other accolades.

However, to focus on his honors would do a disservice to his life’s work. Instead, we must take his words and work to heart as we seek to change our nation’s immigration laws and improve the lives of individuals around the world.

On this year’s Statue of Liberty Day, join us in celebrating Lady Liberty’s purpose – to welcome newcomers to our shores. And on this important day, let’s take the time to remember the countless contributions of the millions of immigrants she has helped to greet and welcome along the way.