Speech #1090098923

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 4437. the Border Protection. Antiterrorism. and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. I too am committed to protecting our borders and strengthening our immigration policies. However. this bill does neither. Instead of offering necessary comprehensive immigration reform. this bill simply continues the same failed policies of the past. Over the last decade. from Fiscal Year 1993 to Fiscal Year 2004. the number of Border Patrol officers tripled from 3.965 to 10.835 agents. and spending on border enforcement quintupled from $740 million to $3.8 billion per year. In that same lime frame. the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. doubled from 4.5 million to 9.3 million. Clearly our current policies have failed to stop the flow of illegal immigration. Yet this bill simply offers more of the same failed remedies to our immigration problems. Furthermore. this bill contains several unacceptable provisions. Please allow me to outline a few of the most egregious of these. First. by expanding mandatory detention. this bill would allow women and children seeking asylum to be held in jails or prisonlike detention centers while their immigration proceedings are pending even though they are no threat to our national security. Imprisoning these asylum seekers who often times are trying to escape brutalities back home violates the integrity of what our nation stands for and undermines our history of due process of law. Second. this bill unfairly denies admission to immigrants who legally come to the U.S. from countries that do not accept the reentry of their citizens. This means that. even though our State Department has approved their visas. legal immigrants and refugees from communist countries such as Vietnam. China and Somalia would be refused entry into the U.S. and forced to return to the oppressive regimes they are trying to escape. Third. this bill takes valuable time and resources away from urgent police responsibilities. such as dealing with murder. rape. and gang activity by empowering state and local police to enforce immigration laws which is currently the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. Fourth. this bill would classify as aggravated felons children who through no fault of their own are brought here illegally by their parents. While I support cracking down on criminal aliens.