Next Tuesday. these people who have come here hoping to be reunited with a family member or hoping to provide their talents to the greatest nation on earth. may be forced back to their native land without a blink of an eye. On September 30. 1997. 245(i) is scheduled to sunset. If we do not extend this section. a mass deportation will occurwives will be taken from their husbands arms and valued workers will lose their jobs. Families will be ripped apart and businesses will be disrupted. We should not and cannot allow this to happen. An extension of 245(i) would not only benefit immigrants currently living in the United States. their family members and their employers. but would benefit our country as a whole. For example. that fee these immigrants pay to renew their status goes straight into the U.S. State Department coffers. at a sum of $200 million each year. 245(i) provides the Immigration and Naturalization Service with the funds necessary to carry out important enforcement and detention functions. By allowing immigrants to change their status within the our Nation. the United States has also been able to reduce the applications at the consulate by 3 percent. This allows them to focus on their primary functions of enhancing foreign diplomacy and assisting United States citizens living or traveling abroad. I ask you. as Members of Congress and representatives of the people. what is the benefit to our country of breaking up families and breaking down businesses?
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Naturalization deportation immigrants Immigration