Speech #1040206058

Mr. President. as we consider this legislation. I ask my colleagues to focus on this fact: According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. there are approximately 4 million illegal immigrants permanently residing in this country today. and that number grows by an estimated 300.000 each and every year. Clearly. such numbers should be a siren song to this Congress. That is why I will support this final. amended version of S. 1664. the Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act. It is. in my opinion. a positive step in our overall effort to improve our Nations immigration policies. The bill makes muchneeded and substantive reforms in the current law by focusing on the problem of illegal immigration without unfairly punishing lawabiding employers and those who come to this country and play by the rules. This bill concentrates on better enforcement. both at our borders and in dealing with those who overstay their visa. by increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and investigative personnel over the next 5 fiscal years. It provides for 4.700 new Border Patrol agents. a total increase of 90 percent above current levels. It authorizes the hiring of 300 fulltime INS investigators who will concentrate on alien smuggling and enforcing employer sanctions. And it authorizes 300 new INS officers to investigate aliens who entered legally on a temporary visa. but have overstayed that visa and are now in the United States illegally. This bill also works to streamline current exclusion and deportation processes for anyone attempting to enter the United States without proper documentation. or with false documentation. No longer will such individuals be able to stay on indefinitely while their case is endlessly adjudicated. While genuine refugees are still offered important protections. abuse of the system will be largely curtailed through a new system which allows specially trained asylum officers at ports of entry to determine if refugee seekers have a credible fear of persecution. If they do. then they can go through the normal process of establishing their claim. But if they cannot establish a proper claim. then the new provisions in this bill will prevent them from simply being released into the streets.