Speech #920164473

Mr. Speaker. section 241(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act has been so broadly interpreted by the ninth U.S. circuit court of appeals that fraud could be the new vehicle for an illegal alien to achieve permanent residence in the United States. The section states that anyone who enters the United States "by fraud or misrepresentation" cannot be deported if he was "otherwise admissible" at the time of entry and subsequently married or had a child. Immigration officials advise me that unless the Supreme Court reverses the circuit court in a fraud case involving a Mexican woman. the floodgates may be open and our immigration laws rendered useless. In this particular case. a Mexican woman came to an American hospital for prenatal care on a nonimmigrant visa. She bore a child and overstayed her time. then told Immigration she had really intended to come into the United States for permanent residence. She went to court. and the court ruled that because she bore a child. an American citizen. she could stay. The ninth circuits ruling sets up these interesting possibilities for fraud: First. An individual who enters with false documents cannot be deported if he or she marries or becomes a parent. Second. An individual who obtains a visa or other document fraudulently is protected from deportation in the same circumstances. Third. An individual who enters the country as a false citizen. whether by oral declaration or with fraudulent documentation. is protected if he was "otherwise admissible" and attained a family status. These words---"otherwise admissible"-neatly circumvent inunigration quotas under the ninth circuits interpretation.. I am advised by Immigration officials that there have been numerous cases involving Chinese. particularly from Hong Kong. who are brought in this way by ChineseAmerican organizations. Many would be "otherwise admissible" but cannot come in because of quota restrictions. And so the court now says they may stay. even though they claim false relationship to an American. because they could have come in legally under the quota. Joseph Sureck. southwest regional counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. says this interpretation of law "has resulted in a phenomenon strange to the enforcement of immigration laws. Suddenly many aliens who are in the United States as nonimmigrants. or in illegal status. but who have the requisite family ties. have come forward to admit that they allegedly committed fraud at the time of entry into the United States. Thus. many hundreds of aliens who have. or shall acquire. a citizen or resident spouse. parent or child. may acquire nondeportable status upon their selfserving statements admitting fraud without subjecting themselves to the careful scrutiny of an American consul abroadas do thousands of aliens similarly situated." Sureck concludes: It Is anomalous that aliens otherwise eligible for its benefits may even be "inventing" deception to place themselves within reach of Section 241 (f).