Speech #1090057271

They rape. they pillage. they steal. they murder. they abandon. We need to know more about how we can use the intelligence resources and other resources of the United States to work more closely with the Ecuadorian government to stop this abusive trafficking and relieve small cities like Danbury of the terrible cost of a larger population of illegal residents. These illegal immigrants are hard workers and hope only for a better life. But living the life of an illegal cannot fulfill their dreams. and it can cause tremendous problems in cities like Danbury. where services are taxed. taxpayers are overburdened. public health problems develop because these workers do not have health insurance and so on and so forth. I traveled recently to Ecuador to gain a better understanding of the olgins of the problems and spoke with the Ecuadorian immigration officials about the situation. They share our concerns with the sophistication of the organized criminals who are now profiting from human trafficking and capitalizing on the hopes of people who are merely seeking a better life. There is a way for our two countries to work together. not only to stop this trafficking. but to collaborate on local economic development projects to reduce the incentive to flee ones homeland. Microlending all kinds of things that we do routinely here in America and that we do in other places in the world. could provide the economic opportunity these people so desperately want right in their own country. Illegal immigration is not only dangerous and brutal for those involved but hard on American towns and cities and terrible for the little villages that are left behind in which grandparents are raising children and hopelessness forces painful. permanent separation. I commend the gentleman on taking this step forward and working to stop human trafficking. which also creates the problems associated with illegal immigration in America. We have the resources to solve these problems if we focus thoughtfully on both the causes and the effects. The gentlemans amendment will start that process of focusing and will.