Speech #970186247

Mr. Speaker. there is currently moving through Congress legislation that would reform our immigration laws. but which contains a fatal flaw: sweeping amnesty for illegal aliens. This amnesty proposal will intensify two serious economic problems which the United States now faces: First. unemployment. and second. deficit spending. To grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in a time when unemployment is over 9 percent and when the Nation is struggling to reduce the largest deficit in history. is inimical to the welfare of this country. Currently unemployment is 9.4 percent. the highest percentage since post World War II. and. consequently. 10.3 million Americans are jobless. This high unemployment figure could be drastically reduced if millions of valuable jobs now held by illegals were made available to Americans who deserve them. Leonard Chapman. former Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. estimated in 1976 that illegal aliens held 1 million good paying jobs. and that 2 to 3 million more illegals had acquired lesser paying jobs. Former Deputy Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol. Gordon MacDonald. now estimates that Chapmans figures have doubled. These facts were supported by Attorney General William French Smith when he testified before a Senate subcommittee that a substantial 30 percent of illegal aliens hold bluecollar jobs. and that only 15 percent of the illegals are estimated to work in agriculture. Therefore. it is fallacious to presume that illegal aliens only hold low paying jobs. According to Donald Huddle. an economist from Rice University. illegals are earning $7 billion a year in wages from the construction industry alone. These lawbreakers not only take billions of dollars in revenue from American citizens. but they augment unemploymentwhich causes the Treasury to go in the red $29 billion for each percentagepoint increase. From these facts and others. I believe it would be ludicrous for this Congress to support amnesty. when illegal aliens currently have millions of jobs badly needed by Americans. Granting amnesty to illegal aliens will also increase costs in the Federal welfare assistance programs and. thus. cause the Federal deficit to loom larger. Already. studies report that aliens are using and abusing welfare all over the country. Welfare costs will intensify substantially if these illegals are granted legal entry and are eligible for permanent governmental assistance. Amnesty will also have repercussive effects. for it allows illegals to bring into the country relatives. outside of normal immigration quotas. This will augment. even more. the number of people eligible in the United States for unemployment or welfare assistance. The National Association of Counties (NAC) conservatively estimates that expenses during the first year of amnesty for illegals. will require the Federal Government to pay $513.5 million. in order to assist 2.7 million illegal aliens in cash and medical assistance. Attorney General Smith estimates that the number of illegals in the United States is much higher. stating that 1.5 to 2 million illegal aliens enter the country each year. Hence. most experts estimate that there are roughly 10 million illegal aliens in the United States. If this is the case. NACs total cost figure for the Federal Government should be around $2 billionfor the first year alone.