Speech #970055574

Mr. Speaker. as most of my colleagues know. the south Florida area that I represent has been suffering under an emotional and economic burden brought about by the unchecked flow of illegal aliens onto south Floridas shores. At one time. the flow was estimated to be 4.000 illegal refugees a month. It is imperativ( that we. as a nation. face this probler and even more urgent that the Reagar administration develop an enforceabl( immigration policy that will not onl3 help solve some of our current prob lems with illegal immigration bul guarantee that the difficulties experi enced by south Florida because ol these illegal refugees will not occui again. In the next few days. the President will be announcing a new U.S. immi. gration policy based upon recommen. dations he has received from his task force on immigration and. hopefully. information he has received from other knowledgeable sources. I have written President Reagan regarding the illegal immigration problem as it affects Florida and have outlined nine points that I feel are important to include in any immigration policy. I would like to share with my colleagues the text of my message: DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: With regard to immigration. America must be humane. America must be compassionate. but America must also have limits. In the next few days you are to weigh the recommendations of a special task force on immigration. The title for a recent cover story in U.S. News and World Report says it all: "Immigration: The Great American Nightmare". These are strong words. Yet they cannot fully express the price Americans are paying for immigration. which is out of control. Florida is especially hard hit. but it is merely one example of a larger phenomenon. The world is rife with overpopulation. underdevelopment. and political turmoil.