Speech #930041720

Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of H.R. 982. the pending bill providing long needed and highly important amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act. As a Member in the 92d Congress of the House Judiciary Committees Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality. I shared the deep concern of my colleagues with the serious problem of illegal aliens--especially those taking employment after entering the United States without inspection and those entering legally as nonimmigrants but thereafter violating their status by accepting unauthorized employment. The number of illegal aliens rapidly increased since 1965. and has reached severe proportions. It is estimated there are presently between 1 to 2 million aliens illegally in the United States. In 1972 alone. the Immigration and Naturalization Service apprehended 505.949 illegal aliens. and 467.193 were expelled. As the resources of the Immigration and Naturalization Service have increased. especially in recent years. it has dramatically increased its effectiveness in dealing with this problemnearly quintupling annual apprehensions since 1965. It needs far greater financing. and should have the appropriations and personnel it needs to do its job. However. increased funding. facilities. and enforcement personnel will not by itself solve the illegal alien problemwe must also make it an offense to hire the illegal alien. thereby removing the economic incentive which draws such aliens to the United States as well as the incentive for employers to exploit this source of labor. The subcommittee held extensive hearings. in Washington and throughout the United States. on this problem. Following these hearings. I joined in cosponsoring H.R. 16188. which the full Judiciary Committee reported favorably on August 17. 1972. and which the House passed on September 12. 1972. In this Congress. I have moved to another subcommittee. but I have closely followed the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality as it took early action on the reintroduced bill. in the form of H.R. 982. Following further hearings. the subcommittee adopted clarifying and technical amendments. and I joined my colleagues in the full committees favorably reporting this legislation March 27. by vote of 30 to 2. There was never any question In my mind that the language of the bill reported by the Judiciary Committee in the last Congress and passed by the House clearly intended to penalize not just the act of newly hiring an illegal alien after the effective date of the legislation. but also the act of continuing to maintain in employment an illegal alien hired before the bill took effect. I still feel that the language in the bill passed by the House last year unquestionably reached the continued employment of one. knowing him to be ineligible because of his status as an illegal alien. However. this language has been questioned. and I commend the subcommittee members for their wisdom in dotting the "i" and crossing the "t." through clarifying amendments making it clear for all that an employer will not escape penalty for employing an illegal alien just because he first hired that person before the act takes effect. if he continues to employ the alien. In the hearings the subcommittee conducted in the last Congress. there was very clear and conclusive evidence that many of the illegal aliens. who had been apprehended and then deported or permitted voluntary departure. later showed up again employed illegally by the very same employers from whose places of business the alien as originally taken when first identified. In at least these circumstances. undoubtedly the employer was illegally employing these aliens knowingly. The problem of the illegal alien is nationwide in scope. with illegal aliens having entered in labor markets in every section of the country. Each job occupied by an illegal means a lost job opportunity for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. My own inland Sixth Congressional District of Iowa. about as far from the borders as you can get. has not been immune from this problem of increasing magnitude. The Omaha district office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service apprehended 65 illegal aliens in Iowa and Nebraska in 1965. but total apprehensions by that office have increased since by leaps and bounds until 771 illegal aliens were apprehended last year. Just last week. the Iowa Highway Patrol stopped a Texas trucker on Interstate 80 east of Des Moines. Iowa. and arrested the driver and 21 illegal aliens of Mexican nationality. hidden in the back of the truck. Allegedly the driver had charged $20 to $60 each for transportation from Texas to Coloradonone spoke English and they apparently got lost. Many more have been apprehended on Interstate 80 crossing Iowa on the way to jobs in the Chicago area. but most of those apprehended by INS were taken into custody by INS inspectors upon visiting various farms and industries within the State. Illegal aliens impose a heavy drain upon our local educational. welfare. and health services. Our balance of payments is unfavorably affected by the large aggregate of funds sent out of the country by the alien. Furthermore. the illegal aliens are often severely exploited by unscrupulous employerspaid minimum wages. often worked overtime without pay. denied vacations and other benefits. and so forth. He is often subject to extortion through blackmail. because of his fear of exposure. Fearful he will be apprehended if he reports any income. he usually pays no income tax. contributes nothing toward social security or unemployment funds. avoids the census taker. and evades registration for Selective Service. Afraid to bank his money he hoards. it in cash. and is easy prey to confidence men and thieves. but is reluctant to report his being victimized to law enforcement officers. H.R. 982 puts employers on notice that employment of illegal aliens is proscribed. Employers avoid violating the penalty if they have made bona fide inquiry. in accordance with regulations to be promulgated by the Attorney General. whether the prospective employee is a citizen or an alien authorized to work. This is good legislation. making possible substantial progress toward elimination of the problem of illegal employment. With all employers on notice of this law. illegal aliens in this country will find employment opportunities drastically reduced. and those aliens across the borders will have far less incentive to enter the United States illegally. I urge all Members to join in acting favorably in support of passage of this needed legislation.