Speech #990275051

Chairman. I rise in opposition to H.R. 3810 and to the rule under which it is being considered. For the second straight Congress we are being forced to consider the important and complex issue of immigration reform at the 11 th hour under unreasonable and unfair truncated legislative procedures. This years bill contains some provisions that serve both practical and humanitarian ends. However. ultimately the bill will not serve its stated purpose of gaining control of our national borders. because it ignores the historical and economic reality of our sourthem border and does not address the causes of current immigration waves. Moreover. the bill will inevitably result in discriminatory treatment of foreignlooking people and incredibly. inexcusably resurrect and legitimize the practice of indentured servitude. Historically. our borders have been open to immigration from the Western Hemisphere. Until our last major effort at immigration "reform" in 1965. there were no quotas or limitations on immigrants from this hemisphere. in essence. a visa applicant had only to show that a job was available and that he or she was not otherwise disqualified. With the advent of the quota system. legal immigration has become virtually impossible from those countries where historical ties. geography. poverty. and civil strife combine to make large waves of immigration inevitable. This bill will not work. because it totally ignores historical patterns. Todays socalled illegal immigration crisis exists not so much because the numbers seeking to live and work in this country are greater. but because the 1965 reform makes legal entry all but impossible. The flow of immigrationlegal or illegalis a sure index of desperation. Just as the Irish potato famine set off a wave of immigration. just as the Vietnam debacle threw the boat people to the sea. we have today a wave of immigrants fleeing from misery and desperation. The people we know as illegal immigrants do not want to become lawbreakers. but they cannot and will not let laws stand between them and what may be their only chance to survive or attain some semblance of human dignity. Ultimately. the only way to curb illegal entry is to address the human desperation behind illegal immigration. For this reason I have long supported the creation of a bilateral United StatesMexico Development Bank and a free trade zone. I believe that such actions would go iar to create new opportunities and reduce desperation on both sides of the border. This bill. however. will not work because it fails to address the forces pushing immigration. What the bill surely will do is to create a pervasive system of discrimination against citizens and legal residents -Nho have foreign appearance and. for all practical purposes. to revive the cruel practice of indentured servitude. Employer sanctions are the heart of this bill. but without a uniform :ederal identification document. employer sanctions simply cannot be enforced without discri ninatory effect.