[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 20, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IMMIGRATION POLICY SHOULD PROTECT OUR LIBERTIES

  (Mr. JACKSON of Illinois asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deep 
concern over the serious implications of the Immigration Act of 1995. 
We must all be concerned that the steps that are taken to address legal 
and undocumented immigration are reflective of the civil liberties and 
protections implicit in our democratic system of government and 
treasured by all Americans. As a native Chicagoan, I have personally 
witnessed the immense contributions that immigrants from immigrants 
from Ireland, Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and Africa 
have made to enrich our social fabric and economic vitality.
  Unfortunately, today we are faced with a measure that unfairly 
capitalizes on public fears about illegal immigration in order to 
reduce the number of people who join our society, driving a wedge 
between those U.S. citizens who merely seek to be reunited with their 
family members. Attempting to resolve both legal and illegal 
immigration policies simultaneously serves only to convolute these 
issues of significant social import. For these reasons, Congress should 
instead pursue separate consideration of legal and undocumented 
immigration as has been recommended by many of our colleagues in this 
and the other body.
  I am equally concerned about draconian attempts to deny education to 
undocumented children. The Supreme Court, in Plyler versus Doe held 
that children born on U.S. soil are entitled to 14th amendment 
protections. By barring children from the classroom, we will not only 
be preventing a lifetime of potential, but also, we will be working to 
deny them equal protection under the law. Punishing children on the 
basis of their parent's immigration status is not only unfair and mean-
spirited, but its effects will no doubt negatively reverberate 
throughout our communities.
  Mr. Speaker, I am likewise concerned about the so-called employee 
verification system which has been proffered as a means to enhance 
employment enforcement. As the representative from the Second 
Congressional District of Illinois, I am honored to represent the 
24,342 foreign-born individuals who reside in my district. The 
possibility that these citizens may be selected for the pilot program 
frightens me because such a system would not only fail in protecting 
worker's rights but would in all likelihood lead to unauthorized uses 
of this database, posing new dangers to civil liberties for people who 
look foreign, thereby encouraging discriminatory and unconstitutional 
behavior.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to review these and other 
issues with care as we consider the future implications of this bill. 
As we today appreciate the richness of our social fabric we must 
likewise think of our legacy. Mr. Speaker, I urge us not to turn our 
backs on the many peoples which contribute to our cultural wealth, and 
for this reason will today oppose H.R. 2202 as it is drafted.
  Let us extend the invitation to another generation. Give me your 
tired, your poor, your huddled masses who yearn to breathe free.

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