Speech #1100054405

I would like to speak to the amendmrenit. Amendment No. 1174 is a very straightforward and simple amendment. What it does is it removes a loophole in the underlying bill that allows noncriminal illegal immigrants to obtain immediate legal status before any of the border security measures set out in this bill are deployed and inserts language that prohibits probationary benefits from being issued to an illegal immigrant before the effective date triggers are implemented. Despite what the proponents of the bill are saying. the immigration proposal before the Senate would give illegal immigrants immediate legal status upon enactment by providing legal immigrants with the opportunity to apply for a probationary Z visa or. as it is labeled in the bill. a "Probationary Authorization Document."~ Illegal immigrants can obtain immediate legal status because of a huge exception set out in the very first sentence of this very large bill. This exception makes the trigger requirements of beefedup border security and internal security irrele.vant. in my view. It is an exception that I believe swallows up the rule. This exception completely undermines what is supposed to be a key principle of the bill. and that is that no legalization of the illegal immigrant population in this country can occur until the border security and workplace enforcement provisions in the bill are certified as funded. in place. and in operation. My amendment simply does away with this section by striking it from the underlying bill and inserting language that prevents any probationary benefit from being issued before the "~effective date triggers" are implemented. Not only does this bill provide for immediate legal status for illegal immigrants before any of the border security measures in the bill are deployed. it also provides that illegal immigrants will be able to maintain legal status in this country even if the border security measures in this bill are never deployed. The very first sentence of the bill says the probationary benefits conferred by section 601(h) are exempt from the trigger requirements of 20.000 Border Patrol officers and 670 miles of vehicle barriers and fencing and other enforcement measures. Section 601(h) says an illegal immigrant who files an application for a Z visa shall be granted probationary benefits in the form of employment authorization. The provision also says the illegal immigrant may not be detained. nor an unauthorized immigrant. Once an illegal immigrant applies for the Z visa. provides evidence that they were in the country and employed before January 1. 2007. pays up to $1.500 in processing fees and a $500 State impact assistance fee. as well as a $1.000 penalty. that individual will receive a probationary authorization document if he or she passes all appropriate background checks or the end of the next business day. whichever is sooner. That means the illegal immigrant will legaily be in this country before any certification that 20.000 Border Patrol officers have been hired and 670 miles of vehicle barriers and fence have been constructed. Interestingly. illegal immigrants would not even have to pay the entire initial $1.000 penalty set out under this bill. They would have to immediately pay the $1.500 for a processing fee and a $500 State impact assistance fee. but these are merely fees. not penalties. Another principle of this legislation is supposed to be that illegal immigrants are justly punished for breaking the law before obtaining legal status. The bill. in section 608. allows illegal immigrants to put 80 percent of the penalty on an installment plan. meaning that an illegal immigrant would only have to pay $200 initially in penalties when they apply for a probationary Z visa. So an illegal immigrant could pay a paltry $200 penalty when they apply for a probationary Z visa and have immediate legal status conferred upon them by the next business day if nothing turns up in a background check. This does not amount to an adequate consequence for breaking our laws. nor does it put illegal immigrants at the back of the line. To make matters worse. no additional fence or other border security measures have to be deployed before this happens. Mr. President. what makes matters even worse is that even if the triggers are never met. the probationary legal status never expires. As the bill states clearly on page 291. line 17. all of these things: The immediate legalization. the trigger mechanism being made pointless. and the neverending probationary legal status occur because of this loophole in the very first sentence of the bill. I would simply argue that loophole needs to be closed. and that is what my amendment would do. Those who have broken our laws to come here will be given immediate legal status. even before additional security fences are constructed or desperately needed Border Patrol officers are hired. This does not sit well with most of the people I represent in South Dakota from whom I am hearing every day on this issue. They are not happy with this bill as written. My amendment represents an effort to ensure that the trigger requirements in the bill are met before any legaliza.53. Pt. 10 14511 tion occurs by eliminating the exception for "probationary benefits" and ensuring that no probationary benefit for illegal immigrants can be issued until the trigger mechanisms in this bill are implemented. Mr. President. we are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of laws. We should he rewarding those people who have followed our laws. who have played by the rules. and not putting those who have entered the country illegally in front of them. Before any effort is made to deal with the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. we first must secure the border. Despite claims to the contrary. the bill in its current form would give illegal immigrants immediate legal status before any further border security measure is deployed. My amendment would fix this flaw in the bill. I would hope.