Speech #1030141575

Increasingly. the world perceives the United States as a community chest of Federal benefits available for the taking instead of a land where success is achieved through hard work and perseverance. The liberal Federal entitlement policies of the past several decades directly caused this unfortunate view of America. and this body alone holds the ability to correct the misconception. Our country continues to grow and Improve because of the diversity of cultures brought to it by a constant flow of immigrants. If we shut our borders completely. American culture would stagnate and eventually deteriorate. Unregulated immigration. on the other hand. creates a burden that even the strongest economies cannot support. We. therefore. must rethink our Immigration policies to ensure that the perception of America as the "Land of Opportunity" means the opportunity for success through hard work and personal responsibility. To that end. I am introducing the Immigration Reform Act of 1994 and its companion amendment to the Constitution. These bills attack our immigration problem In four ways. First. the Immigration Reform Act lifts the incredible burden criminal aliens place on our State and Federal criminal justice systems. On the Federal level alc no. over 27 percent of inmates in prison Ere classified as "noncitizens." To feed. shelter. and clothe these convicts. it costs the American taxpayer over half a billion dollars a year. An abundance of legislation already exists that would provide for expedited deportation hearings in these cases. The Immigration Reform Act. however. mandates that immediately upon conviction of a felony. a criminal alien must be deported as part of his or her sentence. Since no court decision explicitly requires an administrative deportation hearing. the due process requirements can be satisfied by affording the alien an opportunity during trial to present evidence and testimony that he or she should not be deported. Recently. the 11th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals supported this procedure in its decision in United States versus Chukwura. The court held that a criminal trial and subsequent sentencing procedures satisfy the due process requirements for deportment. In many cases. however. the alien may avoid punishment if returned to his or her country of origin. The Attorney General can. in that situation. defer the deportation. Moreover. in order to attack this problem on the State level. a State attorney general may petition the U.S. Attorney General to deport criminal aliens in his or her State prison system. By eliminating the burden caused by criminal aliens. we alleviate prison overcrowding and save the American taxpayers a considerable sum of money. Second. we must discourage the mass exodus of people crossing our borders coming to live off the hard work of taxpaying citizens and legal immigrants. The Immigration Reform Act removes the incentives for aliens attempting to enter or remain in this country illegally by prohibiting them from receiving any type of direct Federal financial benefits. This legislation cuts ott all unemployment benefits to aliens without a work permit. It stops all welfare payments and food stamps to illegal aliens. It prevents them from benefiting from the Social Security trust fund. and it limits federally funded emergency medical treatment to 30 days. Tighter border controls help. but until we eliminate the financial advantages of illegal immigration. the flood of people across our borders will continue unabated. Third. we must implement more sensible regulations and procedures for those attempting to immigrate to our country. Currently. we provide for the exclusion of any immigrant infected with certain contagious diseases as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. however. the Secretary may change this list at any time. This power provides the administration with a political tool rather than a means of protecting the American people from disease. The Immigration Reform Act prohibits all Immigrants known to have gonorrhea. syphilis (infectious stage). infectious leprosy. HIV. and active tuberculosis from immigrating to the United States. Moreover. the current political asylum hearing process opens a wide door for anyone wishing to enter the country. Because they are allowed entrance while their hearings are pending. political asylum claimants are often in the country for years before their asylum hearings are held. This bill seals the door shut by requiring the INS to detain candidates until all hearings are complete. and it has been determined that they deserve political asylum. Lastly. when the States ratified the 14th amendment on July 9. 1869. they failed to realize the longterm ramifications of extending citizenship to all persons born in the United States. Today. the lure of unrestricted citizenship and all the benefits that accompany it bring a deluge of illegal immigrants across the border to bear their children. Even if the border patrol returns the parents to their home country. they know their children will be supported for life through the American welfare system. This provision in the 14th amendment helped build America in the time of westward expansion and industrial growth. Now. however. it is more of a detriment than an advantageespecially in areas like southern California and Florida. My joint resolution. therefore. proposes that we change the 14th amendment to no longer extend citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal aliens. We are a nation of immigrants. therefore. the extension of citizenship to those persons born to legal immigrants in this country must be preserved. How can we justify granting the privileges of citizenship to those who choose to ignore our laws while piling restrictions and red tape on immigrants trying to become citizens through the proper channels? A constitutional amendment is not to be taken lightly. but in this situation. it provides the best solution to an expanding problem. Finally. Mr. Speaker. until we completely restructure our perspective and our policies on immigration. the world will continue to view America as the land of the free ride and the home of the artful dodger. By enacting my im-