Speech #970224013

I thank the Senator from Wyoming for his indulgence. Mr. President. the distinguished Senator from Wyoming and his colleagues in the Senate and the House have made a tremendous effort to modernize our immigration laws. To a large extent. many of us believe they have succeeded. and the bipartisan support the bill has attracted is testimony to their efforts. However. a number of us are very concerned that several provisions of the bill as it now stands do not provide adequate safeguards against possible hiring discrimination against American citizens. nor adequate provision for due process of law in classaction suits involving refugees. I plan to support Senator KENNm s amendment to require monitoring of the employer sanctions provision over the next 3 years. and to provide for GAO and Civil Rights Commission participation in the monitoring process. I also plan to support efforts to insure judicial review for classaction suits in refugee asylum cases. In addition. I am concerned about a possible amendment which would permit State and local law enforcement officers to assume immigration enforcement responsibilities which are the proper prerogative of the INS. This amendment is strongly opposed not only by civil liberties and Hispanic organization. but by the Police Executive Research Forum. which believes local police involvement in enforcing immigration laws would harm already tenuous policeminority relations and strains limited local resources. We also need to waive the 2year foreign residency requirement for students with critical skills. William Perry. former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. has estimated in 1985.