Speech #930126822

Mr. Speaker. in spite of the best efforts of our immigration officials. the flood of illegal aliens into the United States continues unabated. Since the Congress terminated the bracero program in 1964. the number of Mexicans coming north to seek employment has hardly dwindled. but the difference is that now they enter and work illegally. Considering that their wages. though meager by American standards. are still far in excess of what can be earned at home. it is understandable that these Mexicans should desire entry into our country. However. it is imperative that our laws be enforced so our American farmworkers and legal aliens may be protected from this unfair labor competition. Presently. the enforcement of our immigration laws is woefully inadequate. The usual course of events is for illegal aliens to be apprehended and taken to the Mexican border. Once there. the alien simply waits for a time before again sneaking across into the United States. The Border Patrol is thus left spinning in a swinging door of apprehension. deportation. and reapprehension. all of the same individual. The real sources of this problem are the inadequate staffing of the Border Patrol and the insufficient penalties now extant for illegal aliens. Today the Border Patrol has only 2.155 men to handle a 1.000percent increase in illegal alien traffic and a 30percent increase in legal traffic along the huge Mexican border. It is just unrealistic to think that this force can handle such a flow. Earlier this year I introduced legislation. H.R. 9238. to increase the Border Patrol to at least 3.800. This would give the Patrol a fighting chance to control the entrance of the illegal aliens at their source of entry. Commonsense dictates that the best way to solve the problem is at this source. Second. the lightness of the present penalties perpetuates the revolving door syndrome. Knowing that apprehension simply means a trip to the Mexican border. the illegal aliens are undeterred from coming north. Although record numbers are being arrested. the lack of penalties means that the total number of illegal aliens has not been decreasing. Therefore. I have proposed mandatory jail sentences on illegal aliens and those who transport them in the hopes that this will cause the traffic to subside. An article indicating the seriousness of the problem in the San Joaquin Valley recently appeared in the Bakersfield Californian. and I would like to share the information contained therein with my colleagues. The article follows: