Speech #970012512

I am pleased to join today with my distinguish colleague. Mr. HUDDLESTON. in introducing the Immigration and National Security Act of 1981. Our immigration policy is clearly out of control. The people of Florida will tell you that our immigration policy is out of control and that the social and financial costs have been tremendous. Immigration is out of control when a foreign government can dictate our immigration policy. when we allow that foreign govermnent to determine who will come to our country. Immigration is out of control when the Federal Government lacks the resources and the willingness to enforce our immigration laws already on the books. and it is out of control when the Federal Government. including the Congress. is not prepared to make the hard decisions that must be made to reform our immigration laws. I think the residents of Florida and U.S. citizens across our land are asking themselves. "What about my rights?". "Who is going to help me find a job. who will help me find adequate housing. and who will pay for my medical needs?" The Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy has submitted its final report after 19 months of research and study. and after hearing over 700 witnesses who testified at 12 regional public hearings. The Commissions report will be a good basis for debate and comment. and I am pleased that Senator SIMPrON has indicated that the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Policy will begin hearings on the report in the near future. The report is a good starting point. but I believe that it does not go far enough in tackling some of the severe problems lVe face with our immigration laws. To begin with. the Select Commission recommended that we increase our immigration quotas from its present level of 270.000 to 350.000. plus an allowance for an additi.nal 100.000 aliens Der year for 5 years to clear uo the backlog of visa applications worldwide. It further recommends we continue to accept 50.000 refugees per year. plus unlimited additional numbers. in consultation with Congress. for special humanitarian purposes. When you add all that up. it does not appear to be much of a change from our present policy at all. In 1978 and in 1979. total legal immigration to the United States stood at over 600.000 and in 1980 over 800.000 legal immigrants and refugees were admitted to our country. Legal immigration is now at its highest level in 50 years and at its highest level in our Nations history when you count illegal immigration. The United States is by far the worlds largest recipient of refugees and immigrants. I believe the time has come to place a cap on annual immigration. The Immigration and National Security Act places a reasonable ceiling on legal immigration. The bill will limit legal immigration to the United States to the target figure set by Congress in 1975350.000 per year. In an emergency. and only after consulting with Congress. the President may "borrow" admissions from the following year. or he may disregard internal statutory limits below the overall ceiling. The President must report to Congress each year on the projected number of admissions. and the Secretary of Labor must report an opinion to Congress on whether the level of admissions will affect the U.S. work force. To regain control of our immigration policy. we must also remove the magnet which attracts the millions of undocumented aliens in our country: The ability to find a job. Under our present Federal law. it is not a crime to employ an illegal immigrant. The Immigration and National Security Act would make it unlawful for any employer to hire an alien in the United States who has not been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Employers who knowingly violate the law would be subject to civil penalties of up to $1.000 per alien. Continued violators would be subject to a fine of up to $20.000 or by imprisonment of up to 3 years. or both.