Speech #990084380

Mr. Speaker. I am introducing a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for special Immigrant status for a certain group of in. dividuals. popularly known as the Silva class. This bill would remedy an injustice that has prevented these longterm residents of the United States from obtaining immigrant status. Let me give a brief account of their situation. Between 1968 and 1976. the Immigration and Naturalization Service used 145.000 Western Hemisphere immigrant visa numbers to adjust the status of Cuban refugees. A class action suit. Silva versus Levi. was filed on behalf of Western Hemisphere visa applicants with registration dates during that period. A Federal court ruled that the 145.000 visas had been Improperly used and should be "recaptured" and used for the Silva class visa applicants who had been waiting the longest. The court also ordered that Silva class members already in the United States. numbering about 250.000. be allowed to stay while the visas were being issued. Following that court order. the INS Issued letters to many of these class mem. bers confirming their right to stay in the United States. By October 1981. the 145.000 recaptured visas had been issued. leaving thousands of Silva class members without visas. The injunction protecting them from deportation was lifted in December 1981. and the temporary reinstatement of the protection In 1982. when the Senate passed the Simpson immigration bill. expired in 1983. These unfortunate people have been living in fear of removal from this country since then. Who are the Silva class members? They are wouldbe immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. primarily from Mexico. Virtually all of them have been living in the United States at least 8 years. They have established roots in this country. Their applications for visas have not been granted because of the large backlog. and are virtually sure to remain in that status Indefinitely. It is especially appropriate to consider the plight of Silva class members during Hispanic Heritage Week. Their inability to immigrate legally. despite a desire to do so. could be remedied if this humanitarian legislation were passed. The current restrictions in our immigration laws regarding legal immigration from the Western Hemisphere. while designed to be fair to all intending immigrants. fail to take into account historical immigration patterns from our closest neighbors. It is Important to remember that numerical restrictions on immigration from the Western Hemisphere are very recent. Annual ceilings were first applied in 1968. and the preference system and percountry limits were applied in 1977. The resulting backlog of immigrant visa applications from Mexico grew to about 330.000 by January 1985. While this bill would not remedy that larger inequity. it would provide justice for a specific group of individuals who have been waiting for a long time to receive official permission to reside in this country. Many have U.S. citizen children who have never been to the parents native countries. There seems little point in continuing the current dependence of Silva class members on passage of one of the various legilization programs being considered by Congress. Whether or not legalization legislation is enacted. my bill would ensure a fair and final resolution of the status of the Silva class. It would have a significant effect in reducing the backlog of visa applications in the Western Hemisphere as well. Exceptions have been made in the past for particular groups stuck in the pipeline of immigration. For example. a special provision for investor immigrants. whose applications had been pending for many years for lack of visa numbers. was enacted in 1981. At the same time. immigrant status was granted to alien physicians who could not otherwise qualify for immigrant status. In view of the special circumstances of the Silva class of persons wishing to immigrate to this country. this bill warrants strong congressional support. It would grant those persons born in the Western Hemisphere who entered before March 11. 1977. and who were granted a priority date for an immigrant visa between June 30. 1968 and January 1. 1977. special immigrant status. It would allow them to apply for such status in the United States. and would exempt them from preference and quota restrictions that now preclude their legal immigration.