Speech #970256786

The rest are spouses and children of those brothers and sisters. If the 5th preference is not modified. then closer family members. i.e.. spouses. sons. and daughters will continue to have problems being united. If family reunification is to be a preferred public policy. it should be for the closest relativesnot a loophole to bring "every" relative into the country. Because of the way in which the preference system is allocated. family reunification is becoming the principal way for imnmigrants. other than refugees. to enter this country. This will be felt even more a few years down the road when all the legal immigrants. which include refugees. become citizens. and. if amnesty is granted. the millions of now illegal aliens will be eligible for citizenship. and naturally will want to bring their relatives into this country. There are. however. other public policy reasons for allowing immigrants into the United States. In certain industries there is a shortage of U.S. skilled labor. In some of these areas. i.e.. high technology. these shortages will continue for some years in the future. As reported out of Subcommittee. H.R. 6514 has some provisions that were a step in the right direction because it created a category of "independent immigrants." which allows for greater numbers of skilled aliens and aliens of exceptional quality. to enter our country. These immigrants would not compete with American labor. because in order to be admitted. there must be an existing labor shortage. The most objectionable features of H.R. 68514. however. are the provisions which grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. The amnesty provisions give permanent resident status to those illegal aliens who have continuously resided within the U.S. prior to January 1. 1977. It also gives temporary resident status to illegal aliens who have entered and resided in the United States continuously prior to January 1. 1980. Temporary residents would be able to receive limited benefits. such as emergency medical care. etc. However. after a three year period. illegal aliens granted permament resident status would be eligible for a whole plethora of welfare benefits. which would cost the taxpayers billions and billions of dollars each year. The costs of the amnesty bill are unclear because it is not known how many illegal aliens will take advantage of this program. Any estimate is truly a shot in the dark. The CBO estimates the number of illegal aliens to be 4% million. the Justice Department estimates the number to be 6 million. and other estimates vary from 8 to 10 to 12 million illegal aliens. Obviously. the costs will be astronomical. All these costs will be absorbed by either the federal. state. or local governments. some of which are already subject to enormous pressure to cut their budgets and reduce their spending.