I do not think that it is an accident or coincidence that the people who would be denied legalization by this amendment for the most part would be Hispanics or blacks coming from Central America and the Caribbean. I think we ought to face that. My sense of it is that if we remove amnesty or legalization or cut it back into the twotier system that the gentleman from California suggests. we would make this bill administratively difficult. and send a message to undocumented workers that they apply for temporary status and then permanent status only at the risk of deportation. What we are really saying is that we want the stick but we do not want the carrot. That is not the basis on which this legislation has been sold. Whether you are for it or against it. the basis on which it was sold was that it was going to be a balanced approach. It would provide certain restrictions and sanctions on those who employ people who do not have proper papers and at the same time would bestow the opportunity for citizenship on those who have been here without proper documentation. You take away the legalization aspect of the bill. either all at once as the gentleman from Florida would have it. or in pieces as the gentleman from California would have it. and you no longer have the bill that you said that you were going to be offering to the American people and to the undocumented. It will then appear to many Americans and others that we have engaged ourselves in a great charade. It will be a tremendous disservice to the whole concept of fairness as far as the United States of America is concerned and especially as far as this legislative body is concerned.
Keywords matched
undocumented deportation