Speech #1010249371

His obvious enthusiasm for the future can only make for a better America. Mr. Speaker. individuals like the waiter in the House dining room will appreciate the legal immigration bill we consider today. It rightly furthers Americas reputation for generosity. In fact. we are a country that will continue to accept as many newcomers as the rest of the world combined. Although not without flaws. this bill is far superior to the bill considered earlier by the House. The bill the House considered rewarded those who broke our immigration laws by granting amnesty to illegal aliens from certain adversely affected countries. while others who abided by the law waited for visas. The conference had the good sense to remove that provision. Although many proponents of immigration reform wanted to help U.S. competitiveness. the bill the House considered contained provisions strongly opposed by such groups as the Chamber of Commerce. The bill would have imposed confusing and inefficient new labor certification procedures on companies who applied for employmentbased Immigrant visas. It would have placed an unreasonably low limit of 25.000 on an annual basis as the number of temporary visas for highly skilled workers. Both of these provisions were improved by the conference committee. The labor attestation changes are now a pilot program that will be studied after 3 years. and the limit on temporary visas for skilled workers is now 65.000. The conference committee bill. while maintaining family reunification as the cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy. places a greater emphasis on skilled immigrants. This improvement puts Americas interests first by recognizing the talents skilled immigrants have to offer. The House bill. although it dealt with many issues. failed to address a few key problems in immigration policy. The deportation system in the United States has been full of loopholes and inefficient procedures that have allowed criminal aliens to circumvent the law and remain in this country. The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that at least 30.000 aliens are arrested for deportable offenses every year. yet in 1989 only 7.000 such aliens were deported. The General Accounting Office reported that of aliens who were convicted of felonies. 77 percent were arrested on felony charges at least one more time. This bill makes much needed reforms In the deportation process. Criminal aliens will no longer be able to stay in this country while immigration judges are operating with few rules and waiting for trial transcipts. The reforms in this conference report. which include reforms from my criminal aliens legislation. H.R. 5284. will make deportations more closely conform to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. They will establish deadlines for filing appeals and help immigration judges hold in absentia hearings when aliens fail to appear. Another provision to help expedite deportation of criminal aliens now included in the bill is a provision introduced in the House as an amendment to the crime bill that authorizes 20 additional immigration judges to hear deportation cases of aggravated felonies. After a few years of declining arrests through the borders. apprehension of illegal aliens topped 1 million once again in fiscal year 1990. This discouraging news was largely unaddressed by the House bill. but the conference committee added a vital provision to help reverse this trend. There are increased penalties for the Coyotes along the border who prey on scared aliens and reduce people to cargo. There is improved border maintenance. to reduce the flow of illegal aliens. Since last year. I have worked to give Immigration and Naturalization Service officers the statutory authority to perform the job we have asked them to do. These INS officers often have had to perform citizens arrests to detain criminals smuggling drugs across the border. Granting INS officers general arrest authority will protect them from civil liability for performing their Job. and it will prove to drug smugglers that Congress is serious about combating crime along the border. Another indication of our resolve to combat illegal immigration is the authorization in the bill for an additional 1.000 Border Patrol personnel. I hope this additional authorization will result in the actual hiring of more Border Patrol officers. I urge my colleagues to approve additional appropriations to ensure we can enforce our immigation laws. The gentleman who deserves much of the credit for these improvements Is the junior Senator from Wyoming.