Speech #980213849

Chairman. I think that it is good that the committee has agreed that something like this amendment is necessary. We recognize that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has by law. many responsibilities. It has two major functions. one is to administer immigration laws by assisting those who want to immigrate to the United States or are here already and want to stay. The second function is to enforce the immigration laws by preventing those who illegally enter into the United States and to expel those who are caught and do not have a legal right to remain. INS provides many other administrative services. but the two I have mentioned are primary and the most important. The administration of immigration laws by legal applicants is the easier of the two functions. although. as the gentleman from New Jersey indicated. we are tremendously backlogged in the processing procedures. It is not with the legal applicants that we have a real problem. and probably that is not the reason we are here. Problems in the area are basically management and administrative ones. which the appropriate resources of money. personnel. facilities. and equipment could address. The real problem is the one of enforcement. which includes guarding against illegal entry. investigating. apprehending. and deporting undocumented aliens. This is the responsibility of the Government of the United States. It is not the responsibility of the individual citizens and businessmen and businesswomen of this country to provide immigration services to the country. If we would stop and understand that we have hundreds of thousands of troops in Central Europe. thousands and thousands of troops in places like Korea. and we are worried of course and read every day on the front page of the newspapers about the problems in Central America. We have 5.000 miles of unfortified borders. 3.000 in the North. approximately 2.000 in the South.