Speech #970272523

Mr. Speaker. I wish to commend the chairman and the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law for asking for the rule that is before us today. It will allow for a complete discussion of the issues surrounding immigration reform. I must. however. rise in strong opposition to H.R. 7357 for several reasons. H.R. 7357 does not place a cap on legal immigration. Legal immigration to our country has increased dramatically. Between 1951 and 1960. the average number of legal immigrants entering our country each year was 25.000. This figure has increased to a per annum figure of 438.000 for the 7year period between 1971 and 1978. This mushroomed to 808.000 in 1980. I will be offering an amendment to place a cap on legal immigration. It would raise the current cap of 270.000 to 425.000 and include refugees within the cap. Unless a cap is enacted. any attempt at immigration reform will be meaningless. The adverse impact that unlimited immigration is having on this Nations high unemployment rate will continue to go unchecked. Another serious problem we must address is the problem of brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens who are attempting to gain entry to this country using the fifth preference. Today. we have a fifth preference backlog of 800.000 people. and this figure is growing by leaps and bounds. We have an obligation to these people to maintain realistic immigration quotas in view of this Nations economic problems. Family reunification. which is a major component of our immigration law. will be rendered ineffective. as immigrants who become U.S. citizens try to get all their relatives over to the United States. A Washington Post article recently documented a person who petitioned for 69 relatives. This figure has to be brought under control if family reunification is to be achieved. The most serious problem of H.R. 7357 concerns amnesty. If we legalize the estimated 6 to 12 million illegal aliens in this Nation today. we are encouraging still more illegal aliens to cross our borders. We are also penalizing the thousands of people who have followed the law and still wait to be legally allowed in this country. Amnesty will also cause serious financial dislocations among our State and local governments. as they will not be fully reimbursed by the Federal Government. This could bankrupt some local jurisdictions. However. the most serious concern about H.R. 7357 is the combined effect that amnesty. the current fifth preference. and no cap on legal immigration will have on our country. The ripple efiect of refugees and amnestied aliens on the current fifth preference will be tremendous. As each brother and sister of the amnestied aliens. refugees. and immigrants become eligible under the current system. all of their immediate family also becomes eligiblespouse and children. After these spouses qualify. they will be able to file for their brothers and sisters and the process will continue on and on. Additionally. the costs. possibly up to $25 billion. will have to be absorbed by the Federal. State. and local governments at a time when the public is clamoring for balanced budgets at all levels of government. In conclusion. the reality of our economic and resource situation is such that we cannot continue to be a Nation without borders. If the preference system. a cap on legal Immigration. and the amnesty provision are not changed. then the bill should be defeated.