Those who engage in cottage industries of massive fraud on a huge scale can be investigated by our authorities and prosecuted where warranted. My amendment takes care of that concern. We know one thing. criminals and terrorists have abused and will continue to seek ways to abuse our immigration system in order to enter and remain in our country. I regret to say that the bill we are debating today fails to give law enforcement the commonsense tools that would prevent terrorists and others who seek to do us harm from exploiting the vulnerabilities inherent in any massive legalization program. My colleagues may say there is a confidentiality exception for national security and for fraud. but to rely solely on these narrow exceptions is to engage in wishful thinking and. as far as I am concerned. ignores history and hard experience and the terrorist and criminal threats that we face. Why would we leave any of this to chance? Why would we turn a blind eye to the type of abuses that we have seen happen in the past and risk it happening again in this bill? I submit that any rejected application not only will provide valuable information to assist in deporting a person that is not entitled under our own laws to the benefits under this bill but may provide law enforcement with a valuable lead that they were previously unaware of. a lead that couldand this is not too much of a stretchpotentially save lives and. at the very least. improve public safety. Failure to allow law enforcement to connect the dots is a deadly mistake. I have heard many of my colleagues promise never would that happen again.
Identified stereotypes
criminals and terrorists will abuse the immigration system