Speech #1040267335

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to oppose H.R. 2202. the Immigration and National Interest Act Mr. Speaker. this legislation is not in the Nations best interest. as the title erroneously suggests. While I agree that measures must be undertaken to reduce the influx of illegal immigrants crossing our Nations borders. this measure goes too far by punishing legal immigrants. Like the welfare reform measure enacted into law earlier this year. H.R. 2202 would establish a ban on meanstested Federal assistance for legal immigrants. These are not illegal immigrants. but rather those who have followed the procedures and policies of the Federal Government to enter and live lawfully in this country. Even though I supported the overall welfare measure on final passage. I specifically do not agree with the provisions that would deny legal immigrants public benefits. President Clinton has agreed that these provisions are misguided. and he has stated his commitment to see them modified. I support such changes. H.R. 2202. however. includes almost those same provisions. altering deeming requirements for legal immigrants that would effectively make them ineligible for most meanstested public assistance. This measure has a provision that states that legal immigrants can be deported for accepting a Federal student aid loan and even for attending federally funded English classes. How can a legal immigrant learn the English language and pass the citizenship test with such a policy in place? While future legal immigrants will have legally binding affidavits to guarantee their support during difficult financial times. those who are already in the U.S. holding nonbinding affidavits. or no such documents at all. will be left out in the cold. These immigrants will have nowhere else to turn for up to 5 years if their sponsor cannot or will not support them. Cutting off such lifesustaining assistance to those immigrants who. under Federal policies. legally entered this country without a guaranteed source of financial support is unacceptable. Furthermore. enacting such provisions will not reduce the needs of these legal immigrants. It will simply allow the Federal Government to abandon its responsibility for these individuals. shifting that responsibility and expense to State and local governments that will be forced to fill that gap. Ironically. while punitive provisions are put in place for legal immigrants already in the U.S.. new categories of refugees and asylees are created by this measure. H.R. 2202 provides that the family planning policies of the individuals country of origin would become a basis for such status. Another provision in H.R. 2202 that would harm legal immigrants relates to their ability to reunite with family members they left behind in their homelands. H.R. 2202 increases the income needed to become a sponsor to 200 percent of the poverty level in most cases. which is over $30.000 for a family of four. Only where the sponsored immigrant is a spouse or a minor child does the bill lower that income level to 140 percent of the poverty level. which is in excess of $20.000 for a family of four. For many immigrants who work at minimum wage jobs. even the lower figure effectively prevents them from reuniting with family members. Furthermore. legal immigrants lose protection from discrimination in hiring. and the standards are stacked against them in the legal language of this bill. At the same time. illegal immigrants are hired by employers under the provisions of this measure with relaxed employer sanctions. This is two steps backwards from the policy enacted in 1986. When this measure was considered by the House. I successfully amended the bill with language that would have corrected a situation that is currently hindering some Hmong residents of my district from naturalizing. Unfortunately. the majority stripped the language from the bill during the conference committee. The Hmong the would have been affected are those who served alongside U.S. Forces in the Vietnam war. protecting and defending this nation and losing their homeland in the process. Because they served in Special Guerrilla Forces operated by the CIA. and not regular military units. they are eligible for expedited naturalization as other nonnational veterans of U.S. Forces are. Additionally. extraordinary language barriers and other hardships have prevented many Hmong from meeting some naturalization requirements. The Vento Amendment would have provided for expedited naturalization for these noncitizens who have served the United States honorably during the course of the Vietnam War. I am dismayed that the authors of this bill have chosen to ignore the service of the Hmong in the Vietnam War by choosing to deny them full citizenship in the nation whose freedom and democracy they fought so hard to protect. This bill does have some good provisions that are needed in the efforts to deal with the problem of increasing illegal entries into the United States. such as increased penalties for such activity and increasing the number of border control agents and Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel. However. it targets more than simply those immigrants that make the unlawful trek across our borders. Punishing legal immigrants along with those without legal status who have broken the law is the wrong policy path for our nation to travel. Lets solve the problems that require solutions without creating new ones. I ask my colleagues to oppose this measure.