Speech #990082194

President. I am happy to support the amendment offered by Senator MCCLURE to require that our Nations farms be treated Just like other businesses and our Nations farmworkers be treated just like other workers. The amendment would require that agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Border Patrol obtain a search warrant before they enter the premises of a farm or other outdoor agricultural operation. This amendment would overturn the so. called open fields doctrine which both agencies currently follow. Before INS or Border Patrol agents enter a business such as a restaurant or textile mill. they must comply with the fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution and obtain a search warrant. Search warrants are thus required in all industries other than agriculture. Contrary to common belief. these other industries employ the vast majority of illegal aliens employed in the United States. It is estimated that only 15 percent of employed illegal aliens are employed in agriculture. Yet 50 percent of the apprehensions occur in agriculture. It is obvious that INS and the Border Patrol have singled out agriculture for a much higher proportion of their attention because it is simply easier to apprehend people if you do not have to have a search warrant to enter the property on which they work. This singling out of agriculture for special treatment is unfair to both the employees and the owners. In my opinion. it is also a violation of their constitutional rights. Opponents of this amendment will argue that the "open fields" doctrine has been upheld by the Supreme Court. That decision. however. was rendered in a case involving the growing of illegal substancesmarijuanain a field. not the investigation of the presence of illegal aliens. I contend there is a big difference between entering a field because you have a reasonable suspicion that illegal drugs are being grown there and entering a field simply because the workers on it have brown skin or a national origin from south of our border. The open fields doctrine as currently interpreted by INS and the Border Patrol does not require that agents have any probable cause to believe that illegal activity is taking place. There is no standard or requirement of probable cause. There have been repeated instances of injuries and even deaths occurring to aliens fleeing these open field searches.