Speech #820201787

Mr. Chairman. section 244 of the bill under consideration would severely restrict the present discretion of the Attorney General to prevent hardship to American citizens by suspending deportation in particularly meritorious cases. The purpose of my amendment is to continue. with some muchneeded liberalization. the present discretion of the Attorney General in the above regard. There are ample grounds for continuing this discretion. and for rejecting the excessively restrictive provisions of section 244. This section. as reported to the House. would make it practically impossible for aliens with longterm residence. and of proved excellent quality. to acquire a status of legal permanent residence. The terminology contained in section 244 of the bill is so restrictive as to direct a severe blow at family unity. In pursuance of this terminology. the Attorney General would lose his discretion to suspend deportation to prevent economic hardship on citizen wives. and children. except in the very limited class of cases where the prospective deportee has resided in this country for 5. 7. or 10 yearsdepending on the ground of his deportabilityand his deportation would result in "exceptional and extremely unusual" hardship to a member of his immediate family. These two provisions would practically abolish the great mass of suspension cases as they exist today. An elaborate. impracticable system would be set up which would hardly ever be utilized. and Congress would be swamped with petitions for private bills. The requirement to the effect that the applicant. in order to qualify for a suspension. would have to prove that deportation would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his immediate family. is not only very stringent but encompasses areas which are intangible. difficult to define. and involve an evaluation of the emotional content in any family life. Its operation might result in tragic family separations. A proof that the persons deportation would result in serious detriment-. rather than exceptional and extremely unusual hardshipshould be sufficient. In addition. as proposed to the House. the bill has no provision for the man who has been here 20 or more years. who has no family. but would endure personal hardship if deported. A requirement of hardship should be sufficient whether it be to the alien or to his family. Then. where an alien has a citizen child dependent upon him. or a resident spouse who is in need of his support and companionship. he should be entitled to seek relief by way of suspension regardless of the length of his stay here. if he establishes that he is a person of good moral character. Proof that his deportation would result in serious detriment to his family should. as under existing law. be in itself sufficient grounds for eligibility for suspension. We should favor reuniting familieskeeping them together rather than disrupting them. Most civilized countries do just that.