Speech #1100050496

Well. I agree. The one thing we can all agree we should not do is treat the illegal alien preferentially. So I am sad to say that after reading the bill I think there are several ways in which the language gives preferential treatment toward citizenship to the illegal alien population over people who have waited in line to come the proper way. First. illegal aliens who rushed across the border between January 7. 2004the date contained in last years Senate billand July 1. 2007. will be eligible for amnesty. That is on page 260. line 25 of the legislation. This includes illegal aliens who have been here a mere 5 months. I want to repeat that. Last year. the bill that was so fatally flawedI thought was not principledsaid if you wanted to be part of the amnesty it contained. you would at least have to have been in the country before January 1. 2004. This bill says you get amnesty if you were in the country up to January 1. 2007just a few months ago. 4 or 5 months ago. We put National Guard on the border. We have enhanced our Border Patrol. We put up fencing and all of this. But if somebody beat the system last October. last November. last December 31. and got into our country. they are going to be given amnesty under this bill. That is not sensible. It indicates we are thinking politically and not as a matter of principle. Advocates for this bill claim this bill is necessary because illegal aliens have deep roots in the United States and are. therefore. impossible to remove. This is simply not true in all cases. It is not true in all cases. For some cases. they are tough situations. I admit. But illegal aliens who have rushed across the border in the last few years. without their familyand including those who came 5 months agowill be given all the same amnesty benefits as those who have been living here for 10 or more years in the United States. and raised children in the United States. and have never been arrested or done anything wrong. The American people may want us to treat the illegal alien population compassionatelyand they dobut there is no reason to lump all illegal aliens into the same amnesty program regardless of when they got here or how deep their roots are into the United States. The bill also contains a provision that makes anyone who filed an application to come lawfully after May 1. 2005. have to start the process over by applying for a green card through the merit system. So if you applied lawfully after May 1. 2005. you have to start your process all over againa burden to the lawful applicant. It is fundamentally unfair those who would come here 5 months ago should be put on this guaranteed path. Second. under this bill. only illegal aliens will be eligible for Z visasvisas that allow them to live and work here forever. as long as they are renewed every 4 years. and they have a special point system that allows the Z visa holder to adjust status to permanent status without regard to numerical limits. These visas are not available to anyone living in the United States who came here to work legally and who will have to go home once their visa expires. Third. under the bill. unlike any alien who wants to come the proper way. those illegally here will get legal status 24 hours after they apply. even if their background checks are not completed. Fourth. under the bill. unlike any alien who wants to come the proper way. illegal aliens may be exempted from a long list of inadmissibility grounds. including fraud or misrepresentation to obtain immigration benefits. and false claims of U.S. citizenship. and their prior deportation or removal orders can be waived. even if they never left. In other words. if they have been apprehended in some fashion. have been ordered deported and given a removal order. they can still be exempted from that. even if they refused to leave the country. as they were ordered to do so. if they can show hardship to their families. Fifth. it is important to remember that under the bill. unlike an alien who wants to come the proper way. a Z visa holder will be able to get a green card through their own separate point system. and without being subjected to the regular annual numerical limits. which is a real advantage. I would submit. to them. I see my colleague Senator BUNNING is in the Chamber. I understood he wants to speak. and I will be pleased to yield to him at this time. But we do have a responsibility to fix this immigration system we have today. It is comprehensively broken. It is a lawless system.