Speech #1030116376

President. I rise to express my support for Senator GRAHiAMS amendment which was adopted This amendment permits the Attorney General at the request of the State. county. or municipality. to transfer to a Federal prison criminal aliens convicted of felonies and incarcerated in State or local correctional facilities. The aliens who may be transferred to Federal facilities under this amendment are those who entered the country illegally. or who are subject to exclusion or deportation. We cannot deny that it is a Federal responsibility to control illegal immigration. and to assure that those who come legally. leave the country when their status has expired. If those who enter illegally or who become outofstatus are convicted of felonies in State or local jurisdictions. it is not unfair to expect the Federal Government to assume some responsibility of the cost of their incarceration. To my colleagues that argue that the State and local governments should not have to pay for the cost of illegal aliens because of the failure of the Federal Government to control illegal immigration. I would point out that we cannot prevent illegal immigration without more border patrol. stronger employer sanctions. including a system to verify employment authorization. and the full cooperation of State and local governments with the immigration service. If my colleagues who complain about the cost of illegal immigration to State governments want us to control our borders. then you must support enforcement measures I have described. Without them the State and local governments will continue to experience the costs of illegal immigration. I am pleased that we adopted the Roth amendment. which provides a strong incentive for State and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with the Immigration Service. We should have passed such a law years ago. I will support this amendment. but I do urge my colleagues who complain about these costs to support our efforts to take the necessary steps to control illegal immigration.