[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 141 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               AMERICAN TAXPAYERS WILL BE THE BIG LOSERS

                                 ______


                             HON. BOB STUMP

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 3, 1994

  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, on September 9, 1994, the United States 
entered into an agreement with Cuba that will have a devastating impact 
on our already distressed immigration situation.
  In exchange for the Cuban Government deterring its people from 
setting off for Florida, the United States has agreed to accept a 
minimum of 20,000 Cubans per year. Under the agreement, the Attorney 
General will use her parole powers to loosen immigration rules, bend 
immigration laws and expand the definition of who is eligible to 
immigrate. Clearly, this is an unlawful exercise of authority under the 
Immigration and Nationality Act.
  The accord ensures that the United States will accept at least 20,000 
Cubans yearly, plus about 6,000 more from a backlog of Cubans who are 
waiting to receive visas that have been approved. Many of the Cubans 
who will be admitted under the agreement have dubious refugee status, 
and approximately 9,000 to 10,000 per year would benefit from the 
parole program even though they might not otherwise qualify under 
existing immigration programs.
  In addition, the administration's agreement fails to adequately 
address the 27,000 Cubans currently held in detention at Guantanamo Bay 
and Panama. According to the Attorney General, they will not be paroled 
into the United States. They can either remain indefinitely at the 
refugee camps or return to Cuba. Given that hostilities have already 
surfaced at the camps and the operation is costing taxpayers dearly, it 
is just a matter of time before this situation will have to be 
revisited by U.S. officials.
  Once again, the American taxpayers will be the big losers under the 
Administration's weak immigration policies. Although the agreement is 
being touted as a triumph in border control, it's actually sanctioning 
a heavy influx of poor immigrants, who will strain our hospitals, 
schools, judicial systems and social programs.
  The agreement marks the first time the United States has ever 
guaranteed any nation that it would take a minimum number of immigrants 
in exchange for efforts to cut a flow of illegals to the United States.
  In an effort to prevent the administration from setting this 
dangerous precedent, I am introducing the Emergency Immigration Parole 
Correction Act of 1994. The legislation would amend the Attorney 
General's parole authority to prohibit her from carrying out the 
agreement. Furthermore, any Cubans paroled into the country under the 
agreement would be barred from adjusting to permanent resident status, 
as provided from under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
  Finally, in view of the administration's tendency to waiver on 
immigration policies, the bill takes steps to thwart any attempt by the 
Attorney General to extend the parole agreement to those Cubans now in 
confinement at the refugee camps.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to cosponsor this much-needed 
legislation.

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