Mr. Speaker. last night this House passed a historic immigration reform bill. It was not perfect. but it was a great sight better than what we have now. There is one glaring defect to the bill: It turns on this enormous magnet of legalization. of amnesty. while our borders are totally porous. I have been suggesting an amendment for the last 5 years in this House that would delay the date of amnesty until a Presidential Commission certified that our borders were reasonably secure. Senator SIMPsoN accepted this amendment in his bill and. as amended by Senator METZENBAUM. it would delay amnesty for no longer than 3 years until such a commission certified that our borders were secure. I very much hope that the conferees will hold on to that amendment. and I hope that the House will make it its first order of business next year to staunch the avalanche of illegal immigration that will result when this amnesty is passed. The 1982 date is meaningless. Anybody who is here in this country can take advantage of amnesty because forged identity cards are easily available. Whole packets of identity can be purchased with ease on both sides of our Southwest border. So if we do not do something to firm up those borders. the moment amnesty is effective. we will be inundated with illegal aliens who want to come over here to take advantage of the same American opportunities. the same American freedoms that our ancestors sought generations ago. We cannot afford it. our capacities are limited. our absorptive capability is limited. We are not doing enough for the poor people. the hopefully aspiring who are in our midst now. So let us firm up our borders and have an immigration policy that protects the rights of those who seek entry legally. rather than an unworkable system and porous borders that reward anyone from the developing world who wishes to crash through illegally.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization that undocumented immigrants will flood the country and take advantage of American opportunities.