Speech #1040267323

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to the conference agreement on H.R. 2202. the immigration reform bill. Mr. Speaker. this bill is often described as an effort to improve border enforcement and employment eligibility verification. but. in fact. it goes far beyond these widelysupported elements to attack legal immigrants in the United States. as well as the rights and health of all Americans. citizens and noncitizens alike. and our commitment to international human rights. Of course. this very unfortunate conference agreement is the result of the Republicans negotiating and writing a new bill behind closed doors. with no input from Democratseven those who were initially supporters of immigration reformduring either the negotiations or the actual public meeting of the conference committee! The employment provisions in this bill are simply wrongheaded. First. the bill defies logic by failing to improve enforcement of our Nations wage and hour laws despite the fact that unscrupulous employers hire undocumented immigrants precisely so they can overwork and underpay them. Better wage and hour enforcement is the best deterrent both to this exploitation and to the jobs magnet. Next. computerized employment verification systems invite the creation of national databases on every citizen and resident of the United States. without offering safeguards against improper use or disclosure of information or any recourse if the information provided to a potential employer is simply wrong. Moreover. the bill strips from our immigration law existing antidiscrimination provisions. which were originally enacted three decades ago because it was a fact that minority citizens and residents were discriminated against in the employment process. As illogical as it may sound to my colleagues. while legal immigrants would remain eligible for certain public assistance under this bill. and many have worked and paid taxes to support public assistance and other government programs. they could be deported for actually using the benefits for which they are eligible. Worse. the deeming provisions could bar legal immigrants from receiving even emergency medical services under Medicaid. Legal immigrant children are at particular risk. They may be priced out of eligibility for meanstested programs such as Head Start or job training by deeming. Or they may be frightened away from participation in other programs such as housing. child care. or even health care lest they become deportable. And any immigrants who. despite sponsor income and the threat of deportation. actually receive serviceseven emergency services or services to childrenmust pay the govemment back before they will be allowed to become naturalized citizens. I guess in the Republicans view of American citizenship. only the rich need apply. The conference agreement includes provisions that neither House nor Senate adopted and that conferees were not permitted to strike. that explicitly deny publiclyfunded medical care for immigrants who test positive for HIV. There is no reason to treat HIV and AIDS differently from other communicable diseases such as tuberculosis or influenza except raw prejudice. This is also totally counterproductive to our efforts to control the AIDS epidemic in America. If enacted. these public assistance provisions. which are far more extreme than the already alarming provisions in welfare reform. will cause either a vast increase in human misery in this country or. more likely. a vast costshift to State and local governments and to churches and charities. including our already overburdened nonprofit hospitals. This bill would raise the income levels required to sponsor a child or spouse. sibling or parent. to levels that would disqualify 40 percent of all American families. both citizen and noncitizen. from bringing their families together in America. I guess Republican family values are not for hardworking families of modest means. but only for the wealthy. This conference agreement would also undermine our commitment to protect people fleeing from real persecution by restricting their ability to make their case for admission and denying them a hearing and judicial review. Hundreds of bona fide refugees could be returned to their persecutors under this bill. Mr. Speaker. this bill. like so many others presented by the Republican majority over the last 2 years. goes far beyond what Republicans claim to be its purposes and into the ugliest sort of politics.