Senator MIKULSKI. and others. As they know. for many weeks I have pressed the administration. on the issue of family unity in the legalization program. to use readily available authorities to permit immediate relatives of legalized aliens to remain with their families. This has been a key topic in the oversight hearings conducted in the subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs. and one which I have addressed. as chairman of the subcommittee. in correspondence with the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. While I believe weve made some progress with the Immigration Service on this questionand a policy directive on this issue from that agency may be forthcomingI also share the frustration of the sponsors of this amendment. We stand now. nearly 6 months and almost 1 million legalization applications into the legalization program. and this important question has still not been resolved. It makes absolutely no sense that an administration which purports to represent family values will not utilize the authorities under existing law to keep spouses and their children together. Our subcommittee staff has met with immigration officials around the country in order to assess the implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. And I think its interesting to note that they have found a strong desire on the part of the immigration officers in the field to deal humanely with this problem. I am convinced these officers do not want to systematically deport the spouses and children of newly legalized persons. In the absence of an official policy in this area. their cases are simply going to be placed on the bottom of the enforcement heap.
Keywords matched
Naturalization Immigration Refugee immigration