Speech #980073843

I have been to El Salvador during the period which President Reagan has just certified and have firsthand knowledge that El Salvador has not made significant human rights progress. As a result of the continued violence some 500.000 people have fled in fear of death or imprisonment. Because of reluctance on the part of Mexico and Honduras to accept Salvadoran refugees. most have been forced to find their way to the United States. We can not ignore this situation. nor can we force these people to return co El Salvador at this time. To claim that Salvadoran refugees have no reasonable fear of persecution is a serious misconception. Many members are familiar with Senor Fermin Garcia. treasurer of the Association Nacional Indigena Salvadorena (ANIS). and the action which the Salvadoran Government took upon his return to El Salvador. Senor Garcia is now in prison. his health deteriorating. Senor Garcia met with me and other Members of Congress both in this country and in El Salvador. To force the Salvadoran refugees now in this country to return to El Salvador at this time would be the same as sending some of them to a death camp. We should act by granting extended voluntary departure status (EVDS) for Salvadoran refugees. EVDS is not permanent asylum. it is a mechanism by which we can allow the Salvadoran refugees to remain legally in this country until conditions are such that they can return to El Salvador without fear of death or imprisonment. I was pleased that sense of Congress language supporting Salvadoran EVDS was included in the State Department fiscal 1984 authorization. I am also pleased that similar language is included in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1983. We have granted EVDS to refugees from Poland. Iran. Ethiopia.