Speech #960307136

President. the summary of the comments by the staff director of the select commission. Mr. Lawrence Fuchs. seems to indicate that the commission. in searching for a compromise between various competing proposals to deal with this very serious problem of illegal aliens. is potentially going to settle on exactly the wrong set of solutions. It is indicated that Mr. Fuchs has said that the commission leans toward a firm ceiling of about 750.000 migrants a year. which will not do anything to solve the basic problem. It appears that we are dealing with from 2 to 4 million undocumented workers entering this country each year. most of them temporary. most of them returning to their homeland. insofar as Mexico is concerned. at least. To set an arbitrary ceiling that is lower than the number of jobs that are available to the migrant worker. jobs that are not competitive with American workers. means that you are still going to have an illegal alien problem. They will still cross the 2.000mile border between the United States and Mexico in order to escape the economic deprivation that they face in Mexico at the present time to temporarily work in jobs that are available to them in this country. So whatever we do. the ceiling. if there is to be a ceiling. must reflect the realities. not only of the job market. but of the impossibility of enforcing a law against migration along a 2.000mile border. Mr. Fuchs also suggests that there should be a law against hiring illegal aliens and sanctions against employers who do. Most Hispanic organizations. most people who realize the implications of such a law. will not favor that approach because it clearly would result in increased discrimination against U.S. citizens of Hispanic descent or of descent the same as those nationals who enter this country illegally seeking work. Mr.