Speech #960270705

I would recommend. if the gentlewoman will yield back to me. that she talk this over with our own very distinguished gentlewoman. the chairwoman from New York . She may have a wonderful idea. The Immigration and Naturalization Service reports that as of this morning. July 1. 1980. 115.189 Cubans have entered the United States through Florida since the onslaught began in April 1980. All of these 115.189 have entered ille.gallyoutside of our immigration laws and in defiance of those laws. They have entered without visas and without permission and despite our carefully drawn immigration laws which are designed to permit a reasonable and regular flow of immigrants to our shores. Ambassador Palmieri. who is in charge of our socalled refugee program. has himself described this invasion of illegals as being a form of warfare and that those who are arriving on our shores are in effect "human bullets" In the warfare. Those who come here do so not only in defiance of our laws but they are selected. chosen. by Fidel Castro and his government rather than our own Government as is the plan and practice of our immigration laws. This situation aggravates the fact that throughout the world there are persons who are seeking regular and legal admission to the United States as immigrants in accordance with our immigration laws. Usually they are the family members of persons who are already U.S. citizens or who have been legally admitted to the United States as permanent residents and who are awaiting citizenship. Those prospective immigrants are compelled to wait in line until their turn comes so that they can enter the United States legally in accordance with our immigration laws. Some of them have to wait for several years for the opportunity. They are scattered throuehout the world. in the Philippines. in Korea. in Japan. in Italy. in Greece. in the Middle Eastliterally throughout the world. Yet. as they wait their turns. they see hundreds of thousands of other persons breaking into the line ahead of them and entering the United States as refugees from Cambodia. Vietnam. Laos and Southeast Asia. and now another flood from Cuba and Haiti. These illegal entrants are received on our shores ahead of and in preference to those who have applied for and who are awaiting an opportunity for legal entrance. The resentment that this causes among the U.S. citizen relatives of those who are seeking lawful immigration. as well as among the lawful prospective immigrants. is readily understandable. There is another complication. a grievous result to this problem. As we all know the United States today is suffering from a high rate of unemployment which seems to be increasing. Throughout our country many manufacturing plants have closed down or gone on toa reduced quota of production. Jobs are scarce. inflation is high. taxes are high and the burden of absorbing additional waves of persons for whom jobs must be sought in competition with our own people. all of whom must be supported on welfare. is a prospect that is causing much resentment throughout our country. Ever since the influx of illegal aliens from Cuba and Haiti began. I have been urging the President and the administration to enforce our laws strictly so as to hold down the number of persons entering in this manner. We already have sufficient laws on our books to make a material and effective barrier to this influx of illegal aliens. Our laws already provide for the seizure and forfeiture of vehicles used for the transportation of illegal aliens into the United States. I urge that our administration enforce that law strictly. If every boat. if every ship. if every vessel bringing illegal aliens into the United States is seized and forfeited it will have a tremendous impact on stopping this invasion. The vehicles which are seized and forfeited will no longer be used for that purpose and the example will provide a powerful deterrent to any who seek to continue the practice in the future. A third serious result of this invasion is the burden on the taxpayers of our Nation. It is the Federal Government which is allowing. and in some cases encouraging. this illegal immigration. Yet they are not "refugees" within the meaning of our laws and the cost of welfare to support them is not borne by the Federal Government. but must be borne by local governments. That means that although the Federal Government is permitting. and in some cases inviting. these people to enter the United States. it is the local and State taxpayers of communities in which they are found who must pay the cost of assimilating them into our communities. providing them with welfare payments and medical care. the cost of education and of other incidental costs incurred on their behalf until such time as they become selfsupporting. It is true that the bulk of this new burden has fallen upon the taxpayers of Florida though we have all noted in recent weeks that the Federal Government has moved some of these illegal immigrants to military establishments in Arkansas. Pennsylvania. Maryland. and elsewhere.