Speech #1040249512

Russia Is an ally. This foreign aid bill we are debating tonight provides $40 million in aid to this country. How can we possibly decide that up to 50.000 of the precious numbers of 90.000plus are refugees? This program does great violence to the Refugee Act of 1980. The inspector general of the State Department just completed a thorough audit of the refugee admissions program. I want to share some of the findings In the January 1996 report. INS officers told State Department investigators that the socalled Lautenberg designations have changed the U.S. refugee admissions program into a "sidedoor immigration program." You see. if you bring a refugee to this country. the United States of America pays the bill. pays the transportation. pays for the support system after they come here. But If you immigrate. you pay it. Hear thatif you bring a sponsored immigrant to the United States. you pay. you. personally. pay for their transportation. you. personally. say they will not become a public charge. and people obviously would prefer to come in under refugee status. Evidence is mounting. mounting. and this has been echoed by Moscowbased groups working with the former Soviet refugees. that this Is a "sidedoor Immigration program." Undoubtedly. most of these people. the evidence is mounting. showing that most of these people are not refugees. The State Department reports that there more than 42.000 peopleat least it will be in the RECORD. if nobody is paying attention. it will not make that much differencethere are more than 42.000 people who have received refugee status but who have not yet left the former Soviet Union. More than half of those individuals have remained for more than a year. How can you be a real refugee and not get out? The inspector general reports that many of these folks are holding refugee status as an insurance policy against future upheaval in the former Soviet Union. or simply waiting for an opportunity to leave. I want to acknowledge that many fine immigrants enter under the Lautenberg provisions. Many are welleducated and become productive members of the Nation and citizens. but these are not refugees. and individuals who are not refugees should not receive special refugee benefits. We should stop pretending these individuals are fleeing any type of Statesponsored persecution. They may be fleeing prejudice. That does not qualify you as a refugee. Unfortunately. the program has also become rife with fraud. a direct result of the lowered standards. Let me read an internal INS cable from Moscow: Category fraud is relatively easy to perpetuate as the Washington Processing Center requires no written documentation to corroborate a category claim.