Speech #1100050960

Although it passed this Senate. it never had a dogs chance of passing in the House. That is where we are. and I am concerned about that. A third example of preferential treatment is Z visa holders get legal status 24 hours after they apply. even if their background checks arent complete. The bill says "No probationary benefits shall be issued to an alien until the alien has passed all appropriate background checks or the end of the next business day. whichever is sooner." Nobody else gets immigration status benefits if their background check Is not complete. Fourth. visa holders are exempted from a long list of inadmissibility grounds. Including fraud or misrepresentation to obtain an immigration benefit and false claims for U.S. citizenship. and their prior deportation or removal orders can be waived. even if they never left. if they can show extreme hardship to their illegal alien family members. An illegal alien who applies to be a Z visa holder is exempted. That includes anyone that got here before January 1 of this year. They can walk in and they get a Z visa. They dont have to pass a background check to get the visa immediatelyat the end of the next business day. Presumably. they will check pretty quickly. But what if we had hundreds and thousands of people showing up with convictions for crimes and that kind of thing that makes them ineligible. how are we going to find them? They will have the probationary z visa. If they have participated in a scheme to obtain immigration benefits or have falsely claimed with official documents to the U.S. Government that they are a citizen. this is a crime under Title 18. section 911. that does not bar them either. What would happen if an American citizen made a false claim to the Government? Title 18. section 1001. false claims to the Government is a Federal felony that can put you in jail for 2 years. 5 years. But if you made a false claim to be a citizen or some other benefit under immigration law and you are one of the people who came here illegally and not through a system. you get immunity from those cases. whereas a citizen does not. We have to be careful about what we do in legislation such as this. This is why amnesty deals are important.