Speech #1000059063

Mr. President. today I am introducing legislation in the Senate to correct a serious flaw in the new immigration lawits failure to provide for the unity of families. The Immigration Reform and Control Act passed by Congress and signed into law last year was the product of years of debate and negotiation. and a considerable amount of compromise. Many believed that. given the strong feelings on every side of the issue. it would be impossible to write an immigration reform law that would gain enough support to pass Congress. We beat the odds by passing such a law. and in general I believe we did a good job. The centerpiece of the law. the amnesty program. is based on the reality that there are many aliens who have made new lives for themselves in this country and should be allowed to stay. Since the immigration law went into effect. however. many immigrants and people who work with immigrants have noticed a glaring deficiency in the amnesty program. I held a conference on the new law in April. at which a number of social service providers and clergymen asked. on behalf of the illegal aliens they counsel. "What is the INS going to do about family members who do not qualify for legalization? Will the new law result in the separation of families?" At that time I assured these people that. in devising the amnesty program. Congress did not mean for families to be separated. I advised Rhode Islanders concerned about the potential separation of families to wait for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to issue its final regulations. which might have addressed the problem. On May 1. the INS issued its final regulations. which fail to deal specifically the problem of ineligible family members. In other words. the regulations do not tell INS officials how to treat a family in which one member or some members qualify for amnesty. while others do not. INS field officers have been given broad discretion in this area. which leaves the entire problem unresolved. In my opinion this is not fair to the families concerned about separation. A family cannot be sure. for example. if the fathers application for amnesty will result in the deportation of the mother. Reports are already coming in to suggest that the law is being applied stringently in some cities and leniently in others. Immigration experts and counselors here in Rhode Island tell me that the failure of the INS to confront the problem of ineligible family members has resulted in a climate of fear and uncertainty among undocumented aliens. Many who are eligible for legalization are not coming forward because of their fear that their ineligible spouses and children will be deported. In Rhode Island. only 600 of the estimated 5.000 eligible aliens have filed applications for amnesty. The others would rather remain illegal and keep their families intact than risk being separated from them.