Speech #1040272710

Instead. the bill provides for the construction of the 14mile long triple fence. (quote) "starting at the pacific ocean and extending eastward". It doesnt matter if INS believes the fence would be more effective a halfmile away from the ocean. Of course. if I am an illegal immigrant and see a huge wall starting at the ocean and extending eastward. I might just throw a life preserver on and swim around it. Im sure this triple fence will follow in the footsteps of the other great physical barriers. such as the Berlin Wall and the great Maginot Line. Mr. President. when this bill left the U.S. Senate last April. there was one provision that I thought would make a marked difference in terms of focusing in on the 50 percent of illegal immigrants who come here by legal means. the socalled visa overstayers. It was a provision authored by myself and the junior Senator from Michigan Senator AB3RAHAM. The AbrahamFeingold language. for the first time ever. imposed tough new penalties on those who come here on a legal visa and remain in the United States long after the visa has expired. It required the Attorney General to implement an automated system of tracking the arrival and departure of nonimmigrant aliens. permitting for the first time computer identification of nonimmigrants who overstay their visas. And finally. it authorized over 300 new investigators each year for 3 years dedicated solely to the purpose of identifying these visa overstayers. That bipartisan proposal represented the sort of sensible targeted approach to combating illegal immigration that could be supported by Senators of all partisan and ideological persuasions. Our strategy for combating illegal immigration should not be about building walls. or creating a national worker verification system. or placing a brigade of marines on the southwestern border. or telling an immigrant family that they cannot bring a parent. a child or a spouse into this country. It should be about identifying who is and who is not playing by the rules. and sending a strong message that there are severe penalties that will be enforced against those who choose to break our laws. Unfortunately. a change was made to the AbrahamFeingold language in the conference report that I believe greatly undermines the effectiveness of this provision.