Speech #1050092450

Mr. Speaker. I offer this motion to instruct conferees to try to prevent the enactment of a permanent rolling amnesty program for illegal aliens. Let me repeat that. "a permanent rolling amnesty program for illegal aliens." That is what the issue is today. Contained in the Senate version of the CommerceStateJustice appropriations bill is a perpetual extension of an infamous provision of law that has never won an upanddown vote on the floor of either the House or the Senate. In fact. the only direct vote ever taken on this provision was taken in this House. and it lost. Section 245(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows people who are in the United States illegally to pay $1.000 to the INS to have their legal status changed. I know a lot of my colleagues have been told this only deals with people who have come here and overstayed their visas. That is absolutely inaccurate. and if they base their judgment on that supposed fact. they have been given a misrepresentation. The INS suggests to us that 62 percent of the people using 245(i) are people who have come into this country illegally. did not come in with visas. snuck into our country. And. yes. some of them came in with visas and just arrogantly overstayed their visas and decided to stay here on an illegal status. Make no mistake about it. 245(1) is only about illegal aliens who have snuck across our borders or who have overstayed their visas. This provision exists because it brings in hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. even though they have only gotten around to spending about 5 percent of the 245(i) revenues. This provision is bad for our country because it undermines our laws. It ends up costing us a lot more than that $200 million a year. because these people often come here. and illegal aliens. as we know. commit crimes and cost us in other ways. But it also undermines our trust in the law. it violates our national security. and it punishes millions of people around the world who are eligible for permanent residence in the United States but they are waiting their turn. they are waiting in line. and they are separated from their families. Last year. we passed the Illegal Immigration Reform Act which was widely supported by Americans. Immigrants and nativeborn alike. This reform was a promise to the American taxpayers that we would no longer reward those who break the law. We promised them that their hardearned tax dollars would not be spent to pay for an immigration system that is contradictory and randomly applied. And we promised our newest American citizens that we would uphold the integrity of the system that they so apparently respected. waiting for months and many times for years to come to the United States of America. If 245(i) is extended. or what this act wants to do is actually extend it in perpetuity. just make it a permanent provision of the law. the Illegal Immigration Reform Act that we passed last year is null and void. it has been passed In vain. 245(1) not only compromises the integrity of our laws. It also compromises our national security. The legal immigration process which 245(i) beneficiaries bypass. the regular immigration process. requires wouldbe Americans to undergo background checks in their own countries by our State Department consuls. These officials. American officials. conduct a thorough background check in the applicants home countries. where there are files and there are local officials to call. in order to screen out terrorists and criminals.