Speech #1030119213

I fear that we will spend enormous sums of taxpayer dollars in the hope of appearing tough on crime regardless of the effectiveness of these policies. Finally. I am troubled by our preference for punishment over prevention in dealing with illegal immigration. Amidst the current fervor over immigration. we have threatened to deny local and State governments help in crime prevention if they do not identify and locate undocumented aliens. Rather than force school teachers. public health nurses. and even playground directors to turn over the names of people suspected of being undocumented aliens to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. I believe that we should more effectively enforce our immigration laws at the border and find ways to reduce illegal Immigration altogether. Another unwise provision would impose jail sentences of up to 4 years on people who enter the United States after they have been deported on the grounds of overstaying their visa or illegally getting married. It also authorizes additional penalties upon a finding that an individual is an "aggravated alien felon." a finding that may be based on the existence of a criminal conviction in a foreign country as far back as fifteen years ago. With my colleagues on the Immigration Subcommittee. I have worked to address immigration enforcement issues. It is my hope that the objectionable provisions can be dropped from this bill. studied and modified by subcommittee members and other interested Senators and added to comprehensive asylum reform legislation that would have bipartisan. bicameral and administration support. Mr.