Speech #990083259

But. Mr. President. in taking this step of legalizing those illegal aliens with the most equity and roots in the United States. we must be both fair and thorough. I believe we must admit that in the past we have done a very poor job of enforcing our immigration laws. Our failures in this regard have occurred for many reasons. Our policy of enforcement at our borders and our ports of entry has been lax and capricious. We have failed to enforce the terms of our visas for students and tourists. We have allowed several industries in the United States to become dependent on the employment of illegal aliens. All of these factors have contributed to the present situation of an estimated 5 to 12 million people being in the United States illegally. We cannot and should not attempt to deport all of these people. I do not believe we have the resources or the will to implement massive national enforcement sweeps and deportations. This legislation attempts to attack the illegal immigration problem in a new way. We would remove the economic magnet that draws people to the United States by denying them jobs. Although. I believe that this approach will increase discrimination against Hispanics and others of recent foreign ancestry. I think that if we are going to try this approach we should couple it with an inclusive legalization program to start the sanctions with a clean slate. I support Senator LEviNs efforts to see to it that those with reasonable expectations of being eligible for the legalization program are not subject to arbitrary and capricious apprehensions and deportations. I believe it is unfair to subject individuals who have already been continuously in the United States for at least 6 years to what amounts to the luck of the draw. A chance encounter with a Federal Immigration official or State or local law enforcement officer would lead to denial of eligibility for a program that would have already been passed by Congress and that would appear in the laws and statutes of the United States. The circumstances would also change under this bill for those with reasonable expectations of being eligible for the legislation program. Not only would the sanctions be in effect denying them the opportunity to work. but now to be eligible they should have to avoid detection of 9 years rather than 6. Mr. President. the Levin amendment is an integral part of a human immigration reform policy. I urge all of my colleagues to resist the temptation to punish and penalize those who have come here illegally. I urge them to start the sanctions. if that is their decision. with a fresh start of immigration policy. Let us not implement a program of roundups and deportations simply to deny those with the firmest roots in the United States the opportunity to become Americans. Mr. President.