Speech #960286731

We also recognize the exception for assistance that is required for overriding security purposes. but that exception should not be used as an excuse for ignoring abuses of human rights. We will provide additional assistance and support. as needed. to governments that strive successfully for greater political liberty and protection of human rights. Refugees and migration Americas roots are found In the immigrants and refugees who have come to our shores to build new lives in a new world. The Democratic Party pledges to honor our historic commitment to this heritage. The first comprehensive reform of this nations refugee policies in over 25 years was completed with the signing in March 1980 of the Refugee Act of 1980. based on legislation submitted to Congress by the Carter Administration in March 1979. This Act offers a comprehensive alternative to the chaotic movement and the inefficient and inequitable administration of past refugee programs in the United States. We favor the full use of refugee legislation now to cope with the flow of Cuban and Haitian refugees. and to help the states. local communities and voluntary agencies resettle them across our land. We urge that monies be distributed to voluntary agencies fairly so that aid is distributed to all refugees without discrimination. The Administration also established the first refugee coordination office in the Department of State under the leadership of a special ambassador and coordinator for refugee affairs and programs. The new legislation and the coordinators office will bring common sense and consolidation to our nations previously fragmented. inconsistent. and. in many ways. outdated refugee and immigration policies. A Select Commision on Immigration and Refugee Policy is now at work to further reform the system. We pledge our support to the goals and purposes of the Commission. and we urge the Adminitratlon to move aggressively in this area once the Commission submits its report. Once that report has been completed. we must work to resolve the issue of undocumented residents in a fair and humane way. We will oppose any legislation designed to allow workers into the country to undercut U.S. wages and working conditions. and which would reestablish the bracero program of the past. World population projections. as well as international economic Indicators---especially In the Third Worldforewarn us that migration pressures will mount rapidly in many areas of the world in the decade ahead. Our own situation of undocumented workers underscores how difficult it is to deal with economic and employment forces that are beyond any nations immediate control. Most of Europe. and many parts of Latin America and Asia. face similar dilemmas. For example. Mexico faces the pressure of migration from Central America. We will work with other nations to develop international policies to regularize population movement and to protect the human rights of migrants even as we protect the jobs of American workers and the economic interest of the United States. In this Hemisphere. such a policy will require close cooperation with our neighbors. especially Mexico and Canada. We must also work to resolve the difficult problems presented by the immigration from Haiti and from the more recent immigration from Cuba. In doing so. we must ensure that there is no discrimination in the treatment afforded to the Cubans or Haitians. We must also work to ensure that future Cuban immigration is handled In an orderly way. consistent with our laws. To ameliorate the impact on state and local communiltes and school districts of the influx of new immigrants from Cuba and Haiti. we must provide the affected areas with special fiscal assistance. We support continued financial backing of international relief programs such as those financed by the United States. the International Red Cross. UNICEF and the private. nonprofit organizations to aid the starving people of Kampuchea. We also endorse such support for the Cambodian refugees and encourage participation in the campaign of the National Cambodian Crisis Committee. We support. through U.S. contributions to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other means. aid for the mounting Afghan refugee population in Pakistan and other desperate refugee situations. The Middle East When the Democratic Administration began in 1977. the prospects for peace in the Middle East were bleak. Despite efforts over thirty years.