Speech #980156445

My bill. instead. imposes sanctions and increases enforcement efforts against those employers who exploit unauthorized aliens in violation of existing protective labor laws. That approach. unlike SIMPSONMAZZOLIS. does not call for a national I.D. system. Rather than needlessly threatening our civil liberties. it uses the commonsense and costeffective solution to controlling our borders of increasing the resources of the Immigration and Naturalization Service Border Patrol. A secondary immigration problem created by past failures at enforcing our immigration laws is that large numbers of those who have entered this country without proper documents now constitute an underclass of residents who pay taxes. but are unable fully to contribute to or participate in our society because of their status. The bill would remedy that situation by granting persons who have resided in this country since January 1. 1982. the opportunity of adjusting their status to that of lawful permanent residents. A special expedited adjustment process is provided for Cuban and Haitian refugees who arrived at our shores between 1980 and 1982 and have so far been denied the benefits of legal residency. The SimpsonMazzoli bill instead would repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act. foreclosing that avenue of relief for those Cubans who have entered since April 1980. and would ignore the plight of similarly situated Haitians. My bill would also address the problem of unconscionable backlogs of immigrant visa issuances that can prevent families from being joined for years. The bill establishes a Commission to review various aspects of immigration. and that Commission is directed specifically to recommend ways of ameliorating the visa backlogs. with particular emphasis on family reunification. Further the Commission is directed to consider the economic problems of those foreign countries that unauthorized aliens come from with the view of developing their economies so that their residents will have employment opportunities in their countries of origin and therefore remain in their own countries. There are many other significant parts of the bill I am introducing today. I am including a summary of the bill at the conclusion of my remarks. I hope that every Member will take the time to review this legislation and assess its merits. I trust that persons of conscience who truly understand the need for immigration reform will see that my alternative is a better approach than that of the overly ambitious. yet inadequate. SimpsonMazzoli bill. In introducing my alternative. I would like to stress that it is nonpartisan and worthy of broad support. I publicly acknowledge the contributions of those who worked so diligently in developing this effective immigration package and who now stand ready to continue to work in support of the bill. They include representatives of MALDEF (MexicanAmerican Legal Defense and Education Fund). LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens). NCLR (National Council of La Raza). ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Church World Service. and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. I have reserved a special order following todays business in which I will include an analysis of the legislation.