They are living in a shadowy world that can more often than notor at least sometimes canbe connected with crime. And many of these people. obviously. want a different life and a different future. To be able to make that progress and isolate those individuals who pose a threat to us. our security officials who came before our committee said that a real confidentiality clause is necessaryabsolutely necessaryfor the earned legalization to succeed. in order to have immigration reform. Current undocumented immigrants will have to be persuaded it is safe to come forward to an agency they have come to mistrust. and they will need to feel comfortable the information they provide on their applications about their histories. their employers. and their families will not be used against them or their loved ones. Churches. community agencies. and attorneys who will be helping people apply will also need confidence they are not exposing their clients to immigration enforcement by encouraging them to apply for legalization. I believe the change in the Cornyn amendment would make the confidentiality clause worthless. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants who qualify for earned legalization will likely be dissuaded from participating. undermining the effectiveness of our entire reform effort. And hundreds of thousands of immigrants would be encouraged to remain in the shadows rather than risk coming forward under these conditions. The confidentiality clause in the underlying bill does not protect criminals. On the contrary. the bill requires DHS and State to disclose all informationit is at the bottom of page 362 of the billunlike the provisions the Senator referred to in the Violence Against Women provisions.
Keywords matched
undocumented immigrants immigration