Speech #1060018966

And it came on the heels of a similar tragedy in midDecember. when as many as 13 people drowned in another illegal smuggling attempt. Mr. Speaker. the United States is clearly on the brinkagain--of an illegal immigration crisis. In the short period between January 1 and March 10. there have been a total of 45 illegal landings. 31 interdictions and 34 identified smuggling activities. resulting in over 400 illegal alien entrants by sea. These are part of an effort by smugglers to take advantage of desperate. innocent people living in rapidly deteriorating conditions in Haiti. Cuba. and other impoverished or politically repressive countries. We have heard the Clinton Administration say that it is "doing everything it can" to address this situation and thateven after this recent tragedythere is no need to change its policies or to target additional resources. I strongly. strongly disagree. I do not believe that this Administration has truly committed itself and the resources that Congress has given it to adequately addressing the problem of illegal immigration and alien smuggling. President Clinton has reportedly ignored his own immigration officials. He also has ignored the 1996 law that we passed in Congress that both provided funding and required that 1.000 new Border Patrol agents be hired each year from 1997 to 2001 They call this decision to intentionally ignore the law a decision toquote-"take a breather." Recently. INS Commissioner Doris Meissner testified before a Senate subcommittee that the Administration decided to "take a breather"-and say nowhen she and Attorney General Reno both requested funding for the 1.000 new agents. And while the Administration is "taking a breather." people are drowning off the coast of Florida. What angers me even more is to see my own state of Florida becoming the weak link and the focal point of current illegal smuggling efforts. While the number of immigration control agents has more than doubled during the past five yearsto over 8.000Florida hasnt seen an increase of agents in 10 years. In Florida. 52 Border Patrol agents are trying to stop an estimated 12.000 illegals who come into Florida by sea each year. Because of their few numbers. the Border Patrol and Coast Guard together are only able to catch a mere 10% of them. Not only are there huge gaps in our Border Patrol. but the mechanisms designed to nab the illegal aliens that slip in are also failing. The INS has now decided to change their enforcement tactics and has suspended most surprise workplace inspections that would identify illegal workers and the employers who hire them. These oncesuccessful tactics are not only being eliminated in Florida. but across the country. And the switch sends a clear message to illegal aliens and smugglers that theyre OK unless they get caught committing a crime. I think its unbelievable that our enforcement standards are going down just when illegal immigration is on the rise. Florida Governor Jeb Bush wrote to Attorney General Reno following our most recent tragedy requesting additional efforts. I would like to call upon the Clinton administration to honor his requests: He is askingand I am askingfor More effective intelligence operations to detect immigrant smugglingThe recent tragedy was detected by commercial ship. not U.S intelligence. Greater interdiction efforts along the U.S. coast. More deaths could be prevented if boats of illegal immigrants were stopped at sea. Increased federal resources to make the prevention of immigrant smuggling a top priority. with an increased focus on South Florida. Expanded holding capacity for the Krome detention facility located in MiamiDade county so that officials will be able to detain larger numbers of illegal aliens after raids. The creation of a federal task force to focus on smuggling. An aggressive public information campaign directed at smugglers. Mr Speaker. people are dying--dying lust short of Floridas shores. of Americas shores. The responsibility for preventing these tragedies lies solely with the Administration. who has been given the way by Congress to actbut apparently not the will. I strongly urge President Clinton to mount an aggressive. relentless effort to put a stop to the insidious problem of illegal immigrant smuggling once and for all . . . before more lives are lost.