One perfect example is the subject of this amendment. The USVISIT Program has been authorized since 1996. but it is not near operational. This is the program that would establish an entry and exit system so we know absolutely who comes into the country on visas and when those people leave. if they leave on time under their visa. or if they do not and are. therefore. overstaying their visa. Without such a system. we cannot possibly know who is in the country and who is overstaying their visa. This is a very serious part of our illegal immigration problem. As of 2006. the illegal population. by most estimates. included 4 million to 5.5 million overstays. So visa overstays are a big part of the problem. We know from 9/11. that visa overstays accounted for many of the terrorists at the center of the 9/ 11 plot. So how can we have meaningful enforcement without this USVISIT system. including the exit portion of the system? We cannot. The simple answer is that we cant. My amendment No. 1339 would include full implementation of this exit system of the USVISIT Program into the trigger of the bill. Therefore. the other significant portions of the bill. such as temporary workers. such as Z visas. et cetera. cannot take effect until the full trigger is pulled. including full implementation of the USVISIT system. If we are serious about enforcement. we have to pass this amendment. If we are serious about enforcement. we have to recognize that 4 million to 5.5 million illegals in this country are visa overstays. and we cannot get our hands around that visa overstay problem without full implementation of this system. which has been authorized but nowhere near implemented since 1996. So I urge all my colleagues to come together and build up the trigger and enforcement provisions of this bill with the Vitter amendment No. 1339. With that.
Keywords matched
illegal immigration visas visa