Speech #960270623

Chairman. I rise in support of the amendment by my colleague on the subcommittee. the gentleman from New York. Our subcommittee has conducted several oversight hearings on the operations of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It seems obvious that the integrity of our borders cannot be maintained at the present time with the inadequate funding for border patrol and inspector positions contained in the bill under consideration. I concur with Mr. FISH that any new immigration policy cannot be effectively implemented if there are ways to avoid the policy. We see some indication to that with respect to the current refugee crisis. The policy established by this Congress in the Refugee Act of 1980. is being circumvented by the administration in dealing with the Cuban refugees who have come to this country outside the structure set up by the Refugee Act. The same rationale applies to overall immigration policy. If the borders of the United States cannot be controlled. then the best of immigration policies cannot be effectively implemented and the law becomes meaningless. I trust the Select Commission will submit a meaningful report with some viable suggestions for a new immigration policy. However. in the meantime I see no reason to postpone adequate funding for the border patrol and inspector positions. We must establish a system of border control which has some integrity. At a time when unemployment in the United States is increasing we should act to prevent more people from entering this country illegally to take jobs that could be filled by Americans. This is not to say that all jobs filled by illegal aliens would be immediately taken by those currently unemployed. However. illegals certainly do compete for jobs in the marketplace with Americans. This is no time to take any action which would further the opportunity for such competition. We add to the illegal alien population and make the solutions to this problem more difficult if we postpone action until the report of the Select Commission has been issued and its recommendations considered by the Congress. We must assume our responsibility and fund positions now to establish some control of the border. We should have a viable system in place before we implement any new immigration policy enacted following the report of that Commission. I am pleased to support the amendment by my colleague of New York and I urge that you do likewise.