Speech #980210455

That is why we are so intent upon things that this Congress does each month and each year to try to improve those conditions. But it is going to be quite awhile before those countries will ever get up to the standards that will destroy that magnet that is coming. or the push factor. at least. that is pushing them up here. and in the meantime we have this draw that continues to be here. the better life. The only other way to control that is by making it illegal to knowingly hire an illegal alien. and that the bill does. This bill does it in a very skillful fashion. crafted over many months of deliberation. to protect employers against unnecessary hassle and costs. and to protect workers against discrimination. There may be improvements to the bill. and this certainly can happen in the debate that we have coming up in the next few days. but it is absolutely essential. it is the guts of any immigration reform bill. to keep the employer sanctions portion intact. Not enough border patrolmen can possibly be hired to seal the borders. and anyone who has been to the border knows the truth of that statement. The other thing that bothers me that this bill addresses is the fact that we have so many people now here in this country today illegally already seeking asylum. that we are testing the adjudications processes. the poor. but nonetheless working in the past. system that we have to handle it. Back in 1978. we had as few as 3.800 asylum seekers here under the laws of the time. trying to stay here for fears of being returned for political persecution to another country. From 198) to 1981. we went to 10 to 15 times that many asylum applicants. We now have a backlog of over 170.000 people waiting in line for some determination on asylum. Our system just will not handle it. This bill provides a vehicle for change in that regard. an administrative law judge system. a system of new U.S. Immigration Board. a removal from some of the auspices of the Attorney General to provide a due process fairness. and so on. that I think is commendable. However. there are some things that I think are unduly elaborate about the schemes here. and I am going to propose an amendment or two that would. in fact. go to further strengthening sections of the bill that are not discussed that often but. I think. weight very importantly with employer sanctions in this area. Summary exclusion. That is a procedure used where somebody has not entered the soils of this country yet an immigration officer catches him or her at the port of entry and they do not have the right documents. they are not otherwise eligible. they do not claim political asylum. or whatever. The bill right now. I believe. has a little bit too much baggage in it. and an amendment I will offer in part will seek to determine a new course in this regard to change a few of the things that are presented there as additional rights that somebody has after the immigration officer makes his determination. because I do not think we need to take the person before an administrative law judge. This same amendment will deal with a problem that I see existing in the area of deportation and exclusion. Deportation is where we have somebody in the country. already here. and we apprehend them and then we want to take them and remove them from the country. Exclusion is where we catch them at the border. they claim asylum or otherwise. and we go through a process for excluding them. In the cases where we do not have them in summary exclusion. we go through this process of deportation or exclusion officially. The bill provides an opportunity for an individual to bring a petition for habeas corpus individually or on a multipleparty basis. and for class action suits in certain instances in the case where we are going through this type of procedure in judicial review. This Member will offer. as a part of this amendment. to strike the class action portion because I think it is redundant. The same amendment will deal with the automatic stays that occur in cases of deportation and exclusion. We will keep them under the amendment for deportation. but exclusion cases. where somebody has not gotten into this country. I do not think automatic stays for judicial review are appropriate. I will also offer what I have offered in committee before. and that is an amendment dealing with the exclusive use of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as the court of appeals for all asylum. deportation and exclusion cased. and all habeas corpus matters. Lastly. I am the author of the amendment to strike legalization or amnesty from the bill.