Speech #990275267

Chairman. I rise in support of the amendment offered by my friend and colleague. the gentleman from Texas. It seems almost incredible to me that we have to have an amendment on this floor to insert in this bill a basic American right. and that is the protection from unreasonable and warrantless search of private property by the Border Patrol. In no way will this amendment hamper the Border Patrol in the legitimate pursuit of its business. It merely requires that before they come on to someones farm. and that may be 5 acres. it may be 1 acre. it may be 200 acres. it may be more. it merely requires that they meet the same basic tenet of having a reason to be there and go to court and get permission to come there as they would have to go to any other workplace in this country. That is all the amendment does. At the present time. this is not in effect and what we have got in California is a situation where the Border Patrol runs rampant with undue harrassment. causing undue work stopages. physical damage to crops. and the people who are victims and in many. many instances. have actually arrested people. detained people who are innocent. who are merely Hispanics working on a farm and were stopped because they did not happen to have proper documentation. They did not have proper documentation because they were bonifide Americans.