Speech #990275052

Mr. Chairman. I rise today to express my great dissatsfaction with the immigration reform legislatio under consideration by the House today. T iis bill represents the third attempt in as many years to address the severe immigration probl.3m in this Nation. Once again. a solution to the- immediate problem of uncontrollable border. has been lost in an onslaught of provisions that would ultimately complicate and exacerbate rather than alleviate the immigration problerr. As a Representative from one of the border States. I am especially concerned about the loss of border control that resulted in the presence of an estimated 3.1. million to 6 million illegal aliens in the United States in 1985. Last year. the Immigration aid Naturalization Service [INS] deported apprcximately 1.3 million aliens. but there simply is not sufficient enforcement personnel to curb the steady flow of illegals. At present. tiie INS has only one agent for every 9.8 miles along the expansive southwest border. It is my view. and that of an overwhelming number of my west Texas constituents. that the lirst step in controlling illegal immigration is greater enforcement of our existing immigration laws. This enforcement cannot possibly by achieved while the number of enforcement personnel remains deficient. So. instead of devising a means for more effective border control. the House has assembled a socalled immigration reform package with a multitude of controversial provisions. Amnesty for illegal aliens is one of the provisions that I consider to be most objectionable. In effect. those individuals who have broken the law in crossing U.S. borders are being rewarded by granting them citizenship. Besides discouraging respect for our Nations laws. amnesty cheapens the meaning and value of citizenship for those persons who have patiently waited through our standard citizenship process. The House immigration package would also encourage discrimination against individuas of Hispanic origin who are legal citizens of the United States. By requiring employers to verify the citizenship of each employee. those individuals with Hispanic surnames. like many of my 19th District constituents. might be subjected to discriminatory hiring practices. Small businesses would be especially disadvantaged by the employer sanction provisions since burdensome recordkeeping would be mandatory for jobs ranging from temporary yard work to running errands. Of course. one of the greatest impacts that the immigration reform package would have on west Texas would be in the agricultural sector. While growers depend on a readily available supply of workers. it is my view that the provisions of this immigration bill granting temporary resident status to agricultural workers would serve as a vehicle for increased legalization. Most of the farmworkers legalized under the greencard provisions would be likely to move out of agriculture. It would not solve the problem of available farmworkers. but it would create a secondary legalization program instead.