Speech #960258497

First. I -would like simply to say that after the introduction of the amendment by my friend and colleague. the gentleman from California . I will be offering an amendment to his amendment to increase the number of the border patrol that he proposes. as well as to add inspectors to the immigration and naturalization service. Mr. Chairman. the bill before us accepts the administration premise that efforts to improve our border control should await the recommendations of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. of which I am one of the Commissioners. These recommendations are not due to the Congress and to the administration until March of 1981. Surely legislative action will thereafter take the better part of another year. Knowing that illegal alien apprehensions are running at the rate of over 1 million a year. mainly at our borders. and hearing. as we have earlier. from the gentleman from California that there is a ratio that has been talked about in terms of 2 or 3 to 1 at worst. and conservatively 1 to 1. of those who successfully enter illegally for every 1 apprehended. are we ready to do nothing about this problem for 2 years? My colleagues. the American people are presently concerned over our generous refugee policy. They are even more concerned over the presence of so many Cubans in our country. yet illegal entry amounts to many. many times the numbers of refugees and asylum petitioners in our Nation. It seems to me that this is an issue we can do something about today. We can particularly address the revolving door of our Mexican borders.