Speech #1040249231

Under current policy. since the change. Vietnamese nationals who are able to establish that they were imprisoned for the 3 years In Vietnam as a result of their connection with the Republic of Vietnam or the United States war effort in Vietnam are admitted to the United States as refugees. Permitted to accompany them are their spouses and unmarried sons and daughters under the age of 21. However. in many cases. these former prisoners have only adult children and have suffered so terribly from their imprisonment or are of sufficient age that they require their assistance. From the inception of ODP until last April. this situation was accommodated. as was the imperative to keep families together. by allowing adult unmarried childrenover the age of 21to immigrate with them to the United States. The State Department has cited several reasons for removing their eligibility. Among those listed in a letter to me were: First. the assertion that the sons and daughters of former prisoners no longer face persecution as a result of their parents association with the former South Vietnamese government. Second. the persistent problem of fraud associated with claims. Third. and the need to complete resettlement of the current case load In order to bring the program to a close and into conformity with worldwide refugee procedures. I would like to make my case for this amendment in part by addressing these points one at a time. On the first point. the assertion that "there is no evidence that . . . the adult children of former detainees are subject to official persecution based on their parents association with the former South Vietnamese government." I should point out that the new State Department report on human rights. which covers the time period in which this decision was made. does cite a limited degree of discrimination encountered by these families. On the second point. the problem with fraud. I believe fraud has always been a problem in administering U.S. immigration policy or any other Government program. The fact is that the world is still brimming with people who want to make a better life for themselves in the United States. and many times they will say and do whatever it takes to achieve their dream. It is the task of our immigration policy to identify fraud and disqualify intended immigrants appropriately. The existence of fraud. however. is no reason to exclude an entire class of prospective immigrants who merit consideration. This seems to me very unfair to those with legitimate claims. If the existence of fraud is a reason to shut down a class of eligibility. I am not sure any immigration program on the books could pass muster. On the third point. the need to bring the ODP program to a close. I would appeal to principle.