I support this legislation with pride and conviction. I urge my colleagues to join me in this long overdue solution to the most serious of legal dilemmas. A second piece of legislation I am introducing today would empower our immigration authorities to turn away known drug users and sellers. This bill would broaden the discretion of our immigration officers to exclude and deport those persons known to have possessed and used illegal drugs. It would also enlarge the class of drugs to be covered. I have long thought that the way to keep drugs out of the hands of our young people is to keep the drugs themselves out of this country. The way to do that is to keep the drug users and dealers out in the first place. Current law allows immigration officers to exclude only those who are "traffickers." but that seems too high a standard. too difficult to define and prove. My bill would expand the existing law to keep out those who are known users of or who possess illegal drugs. This legislation is a step forward whose time has surely come.
Identified stereotypes
Associating immigrants with drug use and dealing.