Speech #960226047

I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Our generosity is legend throughout the world and we are not coming to the end of our generosity. The United States accepts more immigrants and more refugees than the rest of the free world combined. Our free society is the goal of most immigrants in the world. but our people have recognized that there must be numerical limits to the immigration permitted to our country. The law recognizes this need for a numerical ceiling. and actually imposes one in the letter of the law. The numerical quota expresses the concerns for resources and environment and the impact on American workers. Immigration is a significant component of population growth in the United States. In recent years. the combination of legal and illegal immigration has composed up to half of our annual increase in population. To protect and preserve the resources of the United States our population growth must be slowed. and that part of population growth which comes from immigration must be controlled. and not allowed to grow without any bounds. Those of us who are concerned about American workers. about the cost of Government and the cost of providing social services to Americans. and about the preservation of the beauty and the wealth of our Nation must care about immigration to the United States. For these reasons. I feel comuelled to speak on the Cuban refugee situation. to try to do something about it. to express this problem. as I say. including the refugee situation in Cuba. Mr. President. last week. in an act of cruel inhumanitythe Cuban Government violated its agreement to allow the immigration of 10.000 Cubans who had gathered at the Peruvian Embassy in Havana seeking asylum from the economic and political conditions in Cuba. On April 18. the Castro government suspended orderly flights from Cuba to Costa Rica. which had agreed to accept the people seeking refuge at the Peruvian Embassy. The suspension of flights touched off a wave of illegal immigration from Cuba to the United States. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 4.218 aliens had landed at the Truman Annex Docks at Key West. Fla.. by 4 p.m. April 30. and have applied for political asylum in this country. From Key West. the alien asylum applicants are transported to the Youth Fair Pavilion near Miami. At the pavilion. the refugees are being interviewed and processed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel. The processing consists of completing a request for political asylum. obtaining a biographical statement from the aliens and establishing identification. If it is determined that the alien is a convicted criminal or narcotics violator. he is detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for further investigation and appropriate legal action. The others are placed in a temporary parole status for 60 days. Parole is not admission for permanent residence. and there is no numerical ceiling on those who may be paroled. Under certain circumstances. an alien paroled into the United States may adjust his status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if he is eligible for an immigrant visa and a visa is available under the Immigration and Nationality Acts numerical limitation. In the case of Cuban refugees. an alien may adjust within 1 year. It appears that allowing aliens to land in the United States in the manner which is now being permitted in the current Cuban situation encourages increasing numbers of illegal immigrations. Each day has brought increasing numbers of illegal boats to the United States. There are reports that more than 1.700 boats are anchored in the Cuban Port of Mariel. awaiting to ferry more refugees across the 90mile span between Cuba and the Florida Keys and the docks at Key West are filled to capacity. Under the provisions of the Refugee Act of 1980. which was passed by the 96th Congress and signed into law on March 17. 1980. 50.000 persons per year may be admitted as refugees. There is also a provision in the law that provides for additional refugees in an emergency. if the Congress is consulted and it is determined that there is a need beyond the 50.000. In the case of this recent Cuban immigration to the United States. refugees may under the law enter and seek rolitical asylum and be placed in a temporary parole. However. it is unlawful to assist in the transport of these refugees. Boat owners and boat operators who are transporting Cubans to the United States are in violation of U.S. immigration laws and as such are subject to arrest and seizure. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. until the 28th. no seizures or arrests had been made. Now three seizures of vessels by the U.S. Customs Service have been made. The main extent of enforcement of the law has been to serve Notices of Intentions to Fine to the vessels which have landed refugees in the United States. The fine is $1.000 for each undocumented alien. Mr. President. the situation which I have described poses a serious dilemma in the execution of U.S. law. I am talking now about a matter that is already the law. The law provides for a limitation on the number of people legally allowed to immigrate to this country. The dilemma is that it appears that we cannot enforce the law. and the reasons we cannot enforce the law are twofold. First. it is politically unacceptable for our society to reject fellow humans who seek refuge in this country. once they are here.