Speech #890282691

Mr. Speaker. I should like to express my complete support for H.R. 15183. which would allow Cuban refugees in this country to acquire permanent resident status through the normal adjustment of status procedures of the Immigration and Nationality Act. I welcome the opportunity to vote for a bill which. in addition to being justified on its merits. is designed to cut redtape and save money. For many years we have had a provision in our immigration laws authorizing the Attorney General to adjust the status of nonimmigrant aliens in the United States to grant them the status of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. In order to do this the alien must. of course. meet all of the regular eligibility requirements of the law. . The benefits of this provision. however. are denied to natives of Western Hemisphere countries and certain adjacent islands. including Cuba. The theory behind excluding Western Hemisphere natives from the benefits of the adjustment of status procedurerightly or wronglyis that they can return to their native countries to obtain an immigrant visa more easily than aliens from outside the Western Hemisphere. This theory. whether it has any validity at all. certainly does not apply to natives of Cuba. since they could not obtain a visa if they did return to Cuba. No U.S. visas have been issued in Cuba since diplomatic relations were severed between the two countries in January of 1961. This is the very reason why this bill is needed. There are about 165.000 Cuban refugees in the United States on temporary status. Not all of them want to become permanent residents of the United States. Many of them do. however. for one reason or another.