Speech #960183930

Government does not necessarily identify this as an antiCommunistic situation. so we have a tendency to overlook some of these problems. Mr. Speaker. today we have undertaken a major revision of our immigration law in order to better respond to the needs of world refugees. While I firmly believe that we must recognize that there are limits as to what we. as one country. can do to help the 14 million refugees in the world today or the potential 117.5 million refugees of tomorrow in terms of resettlement in this country. I believe that once we have determined how many people we can realistically accept. we must screen all applicants in a fair and even handed manner. Our decisions should be dictated by the oppressive conditions existing in a particular country. not by political considerations. foreign policy concerns. special interest pressures. or press and other media coverage. I am pleased. therefore. that we have fashioned a definition of refugee that is broader. more inclusive. more international in outlook and more impartial than the definition in our present Immigration law. I trust that upon passage of this legislation the Department of State and Immigration and Naturalization Service will clearly understand the intent of Congress and handle claims for stays of deportation and claims for refugee status in a uniform manner. I join with several of my colleagues today in saying that we believe this new definition of refugee makes it possible and. indeed. Imperative to take another look at the status of Haitian refugees. The Refugee Act of 1979 defines refugees as those inside or outside of their country of nationality who are subject to "persecution or a wellfounded fear of persecution on account of race. religion. nationality. membership in a particular social group. or political opinion." Under this definition. the status of Haitians as refugees is not a question of opinion or a question of the popularity or political power of Haitians in the United States. it is a question of fact. The same holds true for persons who have fled from Iranmembers of the Bahai faith. Jews. Assyrian Christians. and those people associated with the Shah. Iran is covered under the Middle East definition of refugee in present law. but for political reasons the State Department until the taking of hostages in early November. was very concerned about repairing our relations with the Khomeini regime. and was reluctant to render a determination that the Government there persecuted people. I am aware of one case wherein a very close asssociate of the former Shah--a man near the top of the list of the individuals the revolutionary government in Iran wants killed wherever they might behas been waiting since May for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to look at his application for political asylum. His life is clearly in danger. but INS insists that the case will be given no priority. On the other hand. the Soviet danseur in New York was given asylum within hours after he requested it. Where is the equity in such a policy? Haitians come here across a dangerous sea fleeing the oppression of a tyrant. But while we recognize that there is a repressive regime of authoritarian nature in Haiti. because it also has a socalled free enterprise system and is not socialist. the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of State have decided to examine the motives of the people to see whether they are fleeing because of poverty or for political reasons. This discrete analysis is not made for the Cubans. the Vietnamese. or the Soviets. Certainly all of the people who fled from Cuba did not do so because of oppression of the Government.