Speech #980214078

Mr. Chairman. this amendment provides for fair and impartial enforcement of our immigration laws. It expresses the sense of Congress that the immigration laws of the United States should be enforced vigorously and uniformly. and in the enforcement of these laws. the Attorney General shall take due and deliberate actions necessary to safeguard the constitutional rights. personal safety. and human dignity of U.S. citizens and aliens alike. This is an antidiscrimination statement intended to help address concerns raised by the implementation of H.R. 1510 in particular and the immigration laws of our country in general. The specter of the Immigration and Naturalization Services operation jobs is fresh in the minds of many of my constituents along the border. This was an organized series of raids on different workplaces across the country which resulted in the arrests of thousands of undocumented workers. It unfortunately resulted in the arrests of American citizens who appeared to enforcement authorities to be undocumented because of their appearances or language difficulties. Business owners and their patrons complained of harassment in the process. These incidents. reported around the country. raise serious questions of civil rights violations and due process guarantees. There is a litany of horror stories involving the arrests and detention of undocumented aliens and their families. American citizens and undocumented persons alike have been subject to humiliation. fear. duress. and embarrassment. A recently publicized case in California of a child. a legal resident of the United States. being mistakenly deported to Mexico. is not an isolated incident. In addition. two Supreme Court decisions handed down April 17 give the Immigration and Naturalization Service wide latitude in searching for and arresting undocumented aliens. In Oliver against United States. the Court reaffirmed its position on warrantless searches of open fields. In another case.