Speech #990003006

Immediate repatriation in some areas of El Salvador. specifically a large portion of the eastern third of that country. is simply inhumane. Extended voluntary departure makes the United States a temporary haven until safe repatriation can be guaranteed. Sadly. participants on both sides of this issue. in the sanctuary movement and policymakers in the Immigration and Naturalization Service. have chosen to become embroiled in a dispute over the legality or providing sanctuary to these unfortunate refugees. A recent editorial in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune aptly summed up this conflict: The escalating confrontation between Federal authorities and the sanctuary movement for people fleeing El Salvador and Guatemala is unfortunate and unnecessary. Both the movement and the U.S. Government share the blame. for both are using the Central Americans in a political argument over U.S. foreign policy. In my view. the primary objective of both parties should be to alleviate the suffering and to care for the hundreds of thousands of Central American refugees already in this country. not to carry on some unresolving ideological dispute over the conduct of our foreign policy. As Ive stated in the past. my support of the granting of extended voluntary departure stems from my firm conviction that it is a humanitarian approach for dealing with a serious problem that exceeds the bounds of human decency. It is a humane approach to an inhumane problem.