President. let me add a concluding remayk. and I share this with my colleague from Arizona. The extended volunary departure -status may well have the effectI think we should all be aware of thatof drawing additional Salvadorans to this country to obtain the advantage of that status. We had that debate on the immigration bill. The State Department has advised us that it believes this indeed occurred when the status was granted to Nicaraguans. Thousands came to the United States to obtain that status. It is not unreasonable to expect that this would happen with the Salvadorans. I share that with my fellow Senators. Yesterday. the INS testified. as we prepared for the refugee consultation. that they had no way. with their present existing equipment and procedures. to document or know the whereabouts of persons who have been granted extended voluntary departure status in the United States. There is no way they have been able to identify where they are or who they are. They would not be able to see to it that the Salvadorans would leave the country. which is the purpose of extended voluntary departure. after the conditions in their country have changed. If the conditions in El Salvador changed. there would be no way to determine who then would have been in the status of extended voluntary departure or whether or not they left the country. I share that with Senators. I am fully aware of the difference between extended voluntary departees and refugees. But next step for extended voluntary departees. those who receive the status. is perhaps refugee status. They do not return. because the historic flow of El Salvadorans to this country consists of economic migrants. not refugees.
Keywords matched
immigration refugee migrants refugees