I have no intention to invite immigrants, even if there are no restrictive acts against it. I am opposed to it altogether... I want an American character [...] This, in my judgment, is the only way to be respected abroad and happy at home.

George Washington, Immigration Restriction, R. L. Garis, 1927

Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people, a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs.

Madison, et al., The Federalist Papers, 1787-88

[T]he influx of foreigners must, therefore, tend to produce a heterogeneous compound; to change and corrupt the national spirit; to complicate and confound public opinion; to introduce foreign propensities.

Alexander Hamilton, The Founders of the Republic on Immigration, Naturalization, and Aliens, 1928