Speech #940130378

Mr. President. I am pleased to note that Senator PASTORE and his colleagues on the Appropriations Committee have included an additional $26.86 million in the Justice Department portion of the appropriations bill for provision of 750 new positions within the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This is the same amount requested by the administration and appropriated by the House of Representatives several weeks ago. It reflects a sevenfold increase from the 100 positions added during fiscal 1975. However. it is less than half of the Justice Departments request to the White House. and far fewer than the INS request of 3.200 positions which it submitted to the Justice Department. While the funds and personnel which this appropriation will provide will go a long way to relieve the tremendous backlog in the Immigration and Naturalization Service. the small size of the enforcement arm and uneven quality of services provided by this organization. I fear they will not go far enough to ameliorate the tremendous problems faced across our entire Nation as a result of the continuing influx of illegal aliens. For example. it is estimated that anywhere between 24.840 and 276.000 illegal aliens are employed in Los Angeles. 20.000 in Detroit. and 6.500 in Boston. After long discussions with INS officials and union leaders in my home State. all of whom stressed the understaffing problems in the region. I wrote to the chairman of the State. Justice. and Commerce Subcommittee requesting that the committee double the appropriation in order to provide 2.000 positions nationwide. I felt that this sum was justified for several reasons. First. a tremendous backlog exists in the southern region of California alone: 10.000 in naturalization. 20.000 in travel visas. and 40.000 in applications processing. The information service line in Los Angeles often runs out the door of the INS office and around the entire block. In a meeting with Joseph Sureck. District Director. and Ed OConnor. Regional Director for INS in California during this recess. I was informed that the influx of illegal aliens into my home State alone ranges from 20.000 to 30.000 each month. and that there are currently over 2 million illegals living in California today. Almost 75 percent of these are under the age of 15. and virtually undetectable. Second.