Speech #1030135513

Mr. President. I once again find myself rising to support immigration reform legislation introduced by Senator SIMPSON. I commend him. not only for introducing this legislation earlier today but also for his many years of work and leadership in this area. I am pleased to join him as a cosponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration and Asylum Reform Act of A thorough reform of U.S. immigration law is overdue. The dramatic changes that the world experienced over the past decade have not been matched by changes in U.S. immigration policies. The breakdown of cold war security structures. the rise of nationalism and interethnic violence. and a deep worldwide recession have prompted the movement of large numbers of people in many regions of the world. Additionally. easier access to travel has contributed to the shifting migration patterns and has made it much easier for individuals to make the trek to the United States. There was a time when America was somewhat insulated by two great oceans. but no longer. In the face of this dramatic change. our immigration laws still reflect an earlier time. The current lax U.S. asylum procedures provide a prime example of these outdated policies and the way that unscrupulous individuals take advantage of Americas compassion. This system allows anyone to gain entry to the United States and become immediately eligible to work here. All one needs to do is to show up at a U.S. port of entry. request asylum. and relate some vague story of persecution to the Immigration and Naturalization Service agent. The individual then receives work authorization documents and is instructed to show up later for a hearing on the asylum claim. The system has become so backlogged that the hearing will most likely be more than a year later. Not surprisingly. fewer than half of the asylum seekers ever appear for their hearing. All too often. those claiming asylum are really seeking economic opportunity. not freedom from persecution. and they use U.S. asylum laws to gain access to the United States. their economic Holy Grail. America has always had a tradition of compassion for oppressed and persecuted peoples. Unfortunately. in our desire to provide a safe haven for those who legitimately fear for their lives. we have made it too easy to take advantage of American good will by using asylum procedures to circumvent the regular immigration process. Asylum and refugee laws should apply to individuals that have a legitimate fear of personal persecution in their home country. and not those who are fleeing from areas of general unrest or poverty. Reform of the asylum provisions Is important. and over the past 2 years I have joined with Senator SIMPSON in attempts to correct these problems. but I am more concerned with overall immigration levels. We cannot continue to absorb the levels of immigrants that we have experienced over the past few years. America no longer has limitless resources or vast open areas ripe for settlement and our population places everincreasing demands on an already overburdened environment even without the addition of hundreds of thousands of immigrants a year. It is clear that reform efforts must go beyond our attempts to merely plug the gap of illegal immigration. We must reexamine our overall immigration policy in light of Americas continuing economic and social problems. In addition to the wellknown upsurge of illegal immigration. the United States has witnessed an unprecedented explosion of legal immigration in the last few years. From 1981 to 1988. total legal immigration to the United States hovered around 600.000. That number jumped to 1.090.000 in 1989. and continued up to 1.536.000 in 1990. and 1.827.000 in 1991. The number dropped off in 1992. the last year for which we have final numbers. but remained at approximately 1.000.000. This situation cannot continue indefinitely. The legislation introduced by the distinguished Senator from Wyoming (Senator SIMPSON] attempts to reverse this trend and return the numbers to a more manageable level. Title X includes a 5year reduction of the basic annual ceiling on immigrants from 675.000 to 500.000 and attempts to make that number a firm cap. In the past this socalled ceiling has Ieen far too permeable. resulting in legal immigration numbers much higher than the statutory limit and. I feel certain. much higher than most Members anticipated when they voted for the Immigration Act of 1990. Title X also limits the annual number of refugees to 80.000 unless the Congress specifically authorizes a larger number. This is another area where the flexibility provided in earlier statutes has resulted in numbers far in excess of what the Congress originally envisioned. Exceedingly high levels of immigration in recent years have eroded public support for continued immigration. A USA Today cover story on July 14. 1993. included a poll showing that 65 percent of Americans favor decreasing the level of immigration. This is not a question of Americas compassion or of our sympathy for the plight of those in the world who are less fortunate. We simply have reached the point where it is not possible for the United States to absorb these exceptionally large numbers. It is particularly important to note that the segment of our society which suffers the most from increased immigration is the lower end of the economic scaleunemployed. unskilled. and semiskilled laborers who are in real danger of becoming a permanent underclass in our society. If we truly want to help our citizens that are mired in poverty. we should not be accepting everincreasing numbers of replacement workers to take away those lowskill jobs. We must also realize that the U.S. economy. environment. and social structure are being severely strained by an unprecedented level of immigration and we must take action soon. The United States simply does not have the resources to help all those around the world who wish to come here for a better life. We do not have the resources to eliminate poverty and unemployment for our own population. much less the rest of the world.