Speech #1050001296

I do ask God to allow me to pass over without pain when the time to go arrives. Why am I dwelling on the lives of my parents? Because recently there has been a spate of stories on immigrants. particularly those who came to New York in the last 10 years. The City Planning Commission issued a report entitled "Annual Immigrant Tape Files. 199094. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Population Division." I wont list Its many conclusionsall favorableconcerning the impact of legal immigrants on the City of New York. But these conclusions reinforce the need to fight the meanspirited efforts by Congress to punish immigrants. It isnt wrong to require sponsors of Immigrants to fulfill their legal obligations to support those they brought here who otherwise would become public charges. as the new law mandates. But It is wrong to deny legal immigrants who arrived before this law went into effect the SSI coverage and welfare benefits theyd been receiving. The new laws stripping legal immigrants of welfare inclusion should have been prospective and not retroactive. Recently I read the comments of Massachusetts Gov. William Weld. a Boston Brahmin. on the value to our country of the immigrant: "I have long said that in the 1920s and 1930s the best Americans were Europeans. and principally European Jews who had reason to know what made this country special. In the 80s. the best Americans were Asians. for the same reason." I silently cheered. According to the City Planning Commlssion report. legal Immigrants are coming to the U.S. in even larger numbers. and increasing percentages of the total number of these Immigrants hal from parts of the world that did not participate in largescale Immigration when my parents came here. including Africa. Asia and Latin America. These immigrants. like their predecessorsmy parents among themadd to the richness of this country. They give us the benefit of their intelligence. their labor and tleir children. In the words of Martha Stewart. "Its a good thing." My father never learned to write anything besides his name in English. although be could read.