Speech #1050102950

Guatemala. and El Salvador that resulted in great numbers of people from these countries fleeing their homelands and searching for relief on our shores. In spite of this. Republicans in Congress have attacked immigrants on all fronts. including those from these Central American nations. In addition to cutting back on the types of social services and benefits immigrants could apply for. the illconceived Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 created new rules for Central American refugees which would effectively disqualify the vast majority of these immigrants from attaining citizenship and set them up for deportation. Before the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 was passed. these immigrants were permitted to apply for suspension of deportation and then apply for permanent residence if they met several rigorous requirements. They had to follow a painstaking. labyrinthine process to become American citizens. American citizenship is so prized by our Central American neighbors that they were happy to play by these complicated rules. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 changed the rules for these immigrants midstream and would have forced many of them to retum to their homelands even though many have established themselves as productive members of our society. The District of Columbia appropriations legislation treats all these groups with compassion. The conference report even provides relief for refugees from certain Eastern bloc countries in which we did not become involved to create a refugee situation. Inexplicably. Haitians were not afforded the same treatment. even though their plight was just as terrible and their desire to become American citizens is just as great. The United States must acknowledge that its support for previous Haitian regimes has forced thousands of Haitian refugees to seek relief here in America. Since the military coup in Haiti. the United States has allowed thousands of these refugees to apply for citizenship. Haitians are still endangering themselves. risking death in order to reach our shores. Clearly. the situation in Haiti is not that much better than it is in Central America and the former Eastern bloc countries.