Speech #1040203584

Even though this bill would reduce the number of documents from 29 to 66 that are the most securethere is no assurance that this will be suffl.. cient. So the choice is clear. We will either keep the current system with its flaws and limit deterrence to illegal immigration. or require the President to find a new and better way of controlling illegal immigration and also avoid discrimination. Second. we must retain a safety net for legal immigrant families. This bill is supposed to be about illegal immigration. Title I provides many needed reforms. employment verification. pilot projects. increased money for border patrols. all of which aim to control the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. But the welfare provisions In title I do just the opposite. They provide illegal immigrants with benefits that legal immigrants cannot get. Let me repeat that. Under this legislation. title II provides illegal immigrants with benefits that legal immigrants cannot get. and they erode the safety net for legal immigrant families. In the current law. as well as under this bill. illegal immigrants are ineligible for public assistance except where it is In the national interest to provide the assistance to everyone such as preventable communicable diseases. This bill says that illegal immigrants are ineligible for all public assistance programs except emergency Medicaid. school lunches. disaster relief. immunization. communicable disease treatment. and child nutrition. This is the way that it should be. We want to make sure that. if the children are going to be here. they are going to at least get immunization so that they can effectively protect other children that might be exposed when these children have social contact with each other.