Speech #1090138998

There is no disagreement on this principle. It is very difficult to be successful in this country if you do not speak English. Throughout American history. immigrants have come to the United States and learned English. That process continues. According to the Urban Institute. nearly 40 percent of immigrant children have limited proficiency in English. but by the second generation. only about 20 percent have limited proficiency. and by the third generation children. that number falls to .5 percent. The U.S. Census found that 92 percent of Americans "had no difficulty speaking English." 82 percent of Americans speak only English at home. and most people who speak a language other than English also speak English "very well." Unfortunately. many immigrants who want to learn English have few opportunities to do so. There are waiting lists of thousands of immigrants for English as a second language classes in cities around the country. We should be creating more opportunities for immigrants to learn English. The Inhofe amendment would not do that. Instead. it has the potential to marginalize immigrants and make it more difficult for them to access vital government services. Both the Inhofe and the SalazarDurbin amendments are in this bill. In the conference committee. we must clarify that Congress does not intend to overturn controlling Executive Orders or regulations. particularly Executive Order 13166. I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues rejected an amendment that I offered that would have authorized the Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security to grant a humanitarian waiver to an immigrant if deportation of the immigrant would create extreme hardship for an immediate family member of the immigrant who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. We need to strengthen enforcement of our immigration laws in order to restore integrity to our immigration system. As we make our laws tougher. we must ensure that we stay true to American values. I am concerned that some of the enforcement provisions in this bill are so broad that they will have unintended consequences. These provisions have the potential to sweep up longterm legal permanent residents and separate them from their immediate family members. My amendment would have created a limited waiver that would have applied only in the most compelling caseswhere deportation of an immediate family member would create extreme hardship for an American citizen or legal permanent resident. The waiver would not be automatic. In every case. the immigrant would have to demonstrate that he meets the "extreme hardship" standard. In every case. the government would have "sole and unreviewable discretion" to deny a waiver. This is the same strict standard that Senators KYL and CORNYN used in an amendment we approved last week by a unanimous vote. The KylCornyn waiver would apply in cases where undocumented immigrants are seeking legal status. The waiver in my amendment would apply in cases where an immigrant who was previously in legal status is subject to deportation because of a change in the law made by this bill. It seems inconsistent to give a chance for a humanitarian waiver to an undocumented immigrant and not give the same chance to a legal immigrant. I hope that the conference committee will revisit this issue and resolve this inconsistency by extending the humanitarian waiver for undocumented immigrants to legal immigrants who face deportation because of changes in the law made in this bill. We already give the Government broad discretion to apprehend. detain and deport immigrants. We should also give the Government some limited discretion to show mercy in the most compelling cases. I am also very disappointed that the Senate approved a Gregg amendment that would effectively gut the Diversity Visa Program. threaten the jobs of Americans. and exacerbate the "brain drain"-the migration of talent from the poorest countries in the world to the richest. Congress created the Diversity Visa Program to provide immigration opportunities for people from countries with low levels of immigration to the United States. Diversity visas open the door to thousands of people from around the world who could otherwise never aspire to the American Dream. The program helps to ensure that the United States continues to be the most diverse country in the world. The Gregg amendment would fundamentally alter the Diversity Visa Program by setting aside twothirds of diversity visas for immigrants who hold advanced degrees in science. mathematics. technology. and engineering. These setasides would favor immigrants from wealthier countries and reduce the diversity of future immigration to our country. By bringing more highskilled immigrants to the United States. the Gregg amendment will also increase competition for highly soughtafter American jobs. For the same reason. I am concerned that this bill would increase the annual number of HlB visas to 115.000 and allow that cap to increase every year if American companies use all of the available visas in a given year. Some experts argue that the H1B program is already taking jobs away from Americans. I am also very concerned that the Gregg amendment would exacerbate the "brain drain." And unfortunately. this bill includes another provision that will increase the brain drain by lifting the annual cap on the number of nurses who can immigrate to our country every year. A story in yesterdays New York Times on this provision. headlined. "U.S. Plan to Lure Nurses May Hurt Poor Nations." reports: A littlenoticed provision in [the Senate] immigration bill would throw open the gate to nurses and. some fear. drain them from the worlds developing countries . . . The exodus of nurses from poor to rich countries has strained health systems in the developing world. which are already facing severe shortages of their own.. . Public health experts in poor countries. told about the proposal in recent days. reacted with dismay and outrage. coupled with doubts that their nurses would resist the magnetic pull of the United States. which sits at the pinnacle of the global labor market for nurses.