I believe that our own national interest and, indeed, the interests of other nations who might send immigrants to us indicate that we should have a system of limited and selective migration to the United States. I believe further that there is no obligation or desirability on our part to admit without initial screening those who may become criminals, subversives or public charges — or to admit others in a quantity or at a rate greater than even our own dynamic economy can absorb properly.
President John F. Kennedy, remarks at a meeting of the National American Jewish Congress, November 17, 1957