Speech #1030056886

That is absurd. Mr. President. my bill. the Alien Smuggling Control Act of 1993. addresses these issues by increasing the penalties for alien smuggling. adding alien smuggling to the list of crimes that establish the basis for bringing a RICO chargeracketeering and corruption lawsand expanding the seizure and forfeiture authority for property use in the smuggling or harboring of illegal aliens. The legislation will also expedite deportation procedures for criminal aliens who are not permanent resident aliensgreen card holders. For aggravated felons. my bill will permit a Federal judge to enter an order of deportation during the sentencing phase of the criminal trial. thus avoiding a second administrative hearing on the deportation. The bill will also limit the defenses to deportation for certain criminal aliens and. finally. the bill will increase the penalties for criminal aliens who fail to depart or who come back into the country and reenter after the final deportation order has been issued. Mr. President. these provisions are tough but fair. They will reduce the ability of criminal aliens to take advantage of the multilayered appeals process which we now see in our asylum and deportation procedures. and it will deter illegal alien smuggling by greatly increasing the penalties for criminal smuggling. The U.S. immigration system has been so gimmicked and distorted that often a person coming here seeking asylum and asking for these various procedures will receive more due process than an American citizen receives in their daily life activities. That. too. is absurd. Mr. President. if we do not swiftly and firmly address these problems. the American people will very quickly. I fear. withdraw their support for a generous legal immigration program. I believe our country can and should support a generous legal immigration program. If we take the necessary steps to close this wideopen back door to illegal immigration. they will be more disposed to keep the front door open. I have always favored generous legal immigration. I have spent a good deal of my legislative life trying to close that back door to illegal aliensto people who misuse and abuse our immigration laws. and then become part of a fearful subculture of human beings. I hope that we will address this issue soon in this Congress. I think we must also address the most serious issue of creating a secure identifier system.