Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 2202. the Immigration in the National Interest Act of 1995. This bill is badly flawed in numerous ways. H.R. 2202. for the first time. would combine two entirely different issues in one bill. Combining efforts to secure our borders with reforms to our system of legal immigration serves only to confuse the debate. It plays on the publics understandable concern over illegal immigration but twists that concern into the misguided notion that all immigration is harmful and all immigrants are undocumented. sneaking into our country by night. Neither notion. of course. is true. but dealing with both illegal and legal immigration in one bill serve to fuel hostility and even prejudice toward all immigrants. The sponsors of this legislation appear to hope that the alwayspopular issue of fighting illegal immigration will be a strong enough engine to pull unnecessary and unwise changes in our process of admitting legal immigrants to the United States through the legislative process. I would not argue against reasonable improvements in enforcing our national borders. indeed. border enforcement is one of the principal obligations of a sovereign nation. But I cannot support such micromanagement as mandating a particular type of fenceand one that the Border Patrol considers dangerous for its officers. Nor can I support that bills system to enable employers to confirm that newly hired workers are eligible to work in the United States. Voluntary or mandatory. such a system ultimately cant work without databases that are far more accurate than those we have. as well as a national ID card to tie a person to the name and number he or she present to a potential employer.
Identified stereotypes
The paragraph suggests that all immigrants are undocumented and sneaking into the country by night.