Speech #1010027502

Speaker. on Tuesday. May 23. I introduced H.R. 2448. legislation to reform our legal immigration preference categories. Legal immigration reform has been the subject of discussion and hearings since the Select Committee on Immigration and Refugee Policythe Hesburgh Commissionmade its recommendation in 1981. I was a member of that Commission. The bill I am introducing today borrows from the Commissions recommendations and incorporates concepts recommended at hearings since the Commissions report. particularly the contributions of Senators SIMPSON and KENNEDY in the 100th Congress. the Canadian experience with a points system. and the administrations input. As my colleagues know. in 1986. Congress passed and the President signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act [IRCA] to address primarily our growing undocumented alien problem. It was felt that passage of such legislation was a necessary first step in reforming our current immigration laws. In essence. the back door to illegal migration first had to be closed before making revisions to our legal immigration categories. This 1986 law is now well on its way to implementation and the time is now ripe for the second stepreform of our legal preference categories. Several fundamental principles are a part of our immigration traditions and must be in any reform proposal. Family reunification must be maintained. The entry of skilled workers and professionals needed by American industry should be facilitated. A diversity of hard working. ambitious foreign nationals should be encouraged. Results. however. have been uneven. In the reform of 1966. national origin gave way to family reunion and by 1988. 92 percent of legal immigrants entered as members of families of citizens and permanent residents. It soon became apparent. that nationals of the traditional sending countries of the 19th century were disadvantaged. as few could qualify as close family members. The Hesburgh Commission. 8 years ago. recognized this and recommended a new seed or independent category In which the young and ambitious and otherwise ineligible could compete. Immigration reform must also address the problem of immigrant backlogs and attempt to avoid a recurrence. Approximately 2.3 million individuals around the globe have approved petitions which means they currently qualify under our immigration laws to enter the United States. With worldwide annual quotas a fraction of that number they must wait years until a number is available. The bulk of these individuals are second preferenceimmediate family of permanent resident aliens. and fifth preferencebrothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. In addition. the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act legalized some 3.1 million individuals. some of whom have spouses and minor children who did not qualify for legalization. The exact number is unknown. However. it is estimated that 80 percent of this group are currently residing in the United States in limbohere. not leaving. presumably working. When petitioned for by their legalized spouses. they too will add to our current backlogs. The immigration reform legislation that I have introduced addresses these issues. My legislative proposal would wipe out the current second preference backlog reuniting spouses and minor children of permanent residents. Under current law. only spouses and minor children of citizens are numerically unlimited.