[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3346-S3348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1996
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, since we have just turned to the illegal
immigration reform bill, I ask the indulgence of the two managers for a
few minutes. I want to pay tribute to my friend and colleague, the
senior Senator from Wyoming. For some 17 years--really, 17 years plus--
Senator Simpson has taken on the difficult and often thankless task in
dealing with the immigration issue, an issue which stirs the emotions,
and one which people become very passionate about. He has always taken
on this task with spirit, diligence and intelligence. His views were
always thoughtful.
From time to time, I have disagreed with my friend from Wyoming on
some immigration issues, but the record should be crystal clear that my
friend from Wyoming is a man of great good will, a good will he brings
to this issue. He often takes unfair criticism. Indeed, to borrow one
of many pithy phrases I will soon miss from my friend, my friend has
had several metric tons of garbage dumped on him over this issue--
although garbage is not the exact word he uses. The abuse is very much
undeserved.
I express my warmth, affection, and respect for my friend from
Wyoming as we continue this important debate, and respect for his
staff, also, which has worked so hard on these issues. I want him to
know that I, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, particularly
appreciate his help and his work in the markup of this very important
bill. I just want him to know how much we respect him and others who
are working on this bill, as well.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I do thank my friend and colleague from
Utah. It is a great pleasure always to work with Senator Orrin Hatch.
We have done that, now, for 17\1/2\ years together. There is not a
person I enjoy more--his spirit, energy, and background as a pugilist,
which has certainly helped him. Would that I had studied pugilism as he
had in my youth, because he gives as good as he gets. He is a wonderful
friend, and I thank him.
As we proceed to these next 2 days, this issue is such a marvelous
issue, filled simply with emotion, fear, guilt, and racism, and it is a
political loser. It has never pushed me up a peg in political life, but
somebody has to do this particular work, and the Senator has given me
the ability and the leeway to go forward with it as your subcommittee
chairman. I am deeply appreciative of it.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk
proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, let me begin by applauding the leadership of
Senators Simpson and Hatch and the rest of the Judiciary Committee in
passing out of the committee this very important immigration bill to
stem the tide of illegal immigration in our country, both among those
who come here illegally and those who come here legally but who do not
leave our country when their visas expire. It has been said before
that, according to the INS, these visa overstayers represent about 50
percent of the illegal population.
The bill we are debating this week also includes provisions to crack
down on criminal aliens and alien smugglers and to ensure that neither
illegal nor legal immigrants come to the United States to take jobs
from taxpayers or to depend upon our Nation's welfare benefits.
There will be an effort on the floor to pass a sense-of-the-Senate
resolution declaring that any attempt to reform laws related to legal
immigration should be considered separately from illegal immigration
reform. I oppose this effort and will speak against it when it is
offered.
[[Page S3347]]
I plan to offer an amendment with Senator Simpson that will provide a
temporary 10-percent reduction in overall legal immigration. This is a
very modest reduction, but it will at least provide a sharp contrast to
the increase in immigration that will result under the bill as it was
amended in the committee.
It is important to make clear that immigration will not be reduced
under the committee bill. Immigration will increase at a slightly
lesser rate than under current law, but it will increase.
Having said that, Mr. President, I move to the bill we are debating
today and one of great importance to the Nation, and specifically to my
home State of Arizona. Immigration and Naturalization Service figures
show that illegal immigrants are entering Arizona at a faster rate than
they are entering any other State. Over the past year, Arizona has
surpassed even Texas in illegal immigrant apprehensions. California is
the only State with higher apprehension levels, and although
apprehensions have decreased somewhat in what had been the hot spot for
illegal entry in Nogales, AZ, apprehensions for March 1995 to March
1996 have increased over 300 percent in the Nation's newest hot spot
for illegal entry, Douglas, AZ.
Mr. President, I was in Douglas, AZ, just about a week ago, in fact,
a week ago yesterday, and visited with community leaders and with
Immigration and Naturalization Service employees. The situation in
Douglas is extraordinary, to say the least, with thousands of illegal
entrants into the country every month. As a matter of fact, in the
first 2 months of this year already, more people had been apprehended
than in all of last year. What has happened is that as the INS has put
more agents in Texas and in the San Diego area of California, the
illegal immigration naturally shifted to Arizona, first the port of
Nogales, where last year that was the hottest spot in Arizona. Now,
with more agents having been put in Nogales the people are moving from
there, east, to Douglas and crossing the border in that very small
community. As a result, it is very, very important that there be
additional support provided for the Immigration and Naturalization
Service in the Douglas area, including the addition of more agents.
I note that at the moment, there are some 60 temporary agents, but
under labor union contracts they can only be assigned away from their
permanent station for, I think, a period of 30 days. In any event, 60
people translates into 15 people on the ground at any given time. There
needs to be an additional allocation of agents to the Douglas area.
According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, illegal
immigrants comprise about 10 percent of the work force in Arizona.
In addition, according to Governor Fife Symington, Arizona incurs
costs of $30 million every year to incarcerate criminal aliens. The
State also spends $55 million annually in Arizona taxpayer money to
provide free education to persons who are in this country illegally.
Clearly, illegal immigration imposes great costs on our citizens.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Grassley). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I will continue on with my comments.
Arizona is not the only State dramatically affected by illegal
immigration. The INS estimates that there are 4 million illegal
immigrants in the United States and that this number is growing by
300,000 to 400,000 each year.
While the United States has always been, and should continue to be, a
land of opportunity for U.S. citizens and for those who come here
illegally, we simply cannot afford as a nation to continue to incur the
unrestrained costs of illegal immigration--in jobs, in welfare, in
education, in health care, in crime on our streets, and on our penal
system. To illustrate the effect, consider that over one-quarter of all
Federal prisoners are foreign-born, up from 4 percent as recently as
1980. Again, over 25 percent of all Federal prisoners are foreign-born.
It was only 4 percent just 15 years ago.
As we all know, yesterday was tax day. It is not fair, given our $5
trillion debt and annual $200 million in deficit spending, to ask law-
abiding taxpayers to pay for those who choose to violate our laws to
come to this country illegally, or even to pay for legal immigrants
who, once here, quickly come to depend on our Nation for welfare and
other public benefits.
S. 1664 will go a long way toward eliminating those incentives. Under
the bill, illegal immigrants are banned from almost all public benefits
programs outright and legal immigrants will have to work 40 quarters
before becoming eligible for most benefits. I was pleased that the
committee passed a number of amendments I offered to deal with this
general issue: these include requiring the Education Department to
report to Congress on the effectiveness of a new system designed to
ensure that ineligible aliens do not receive higher education benefits,
and requiring the Federal Government to reimburse States for the costs
of providing emergency medical services and ambulance services also
passed. The latter was offered on behalf of Senator McCain. I also plan
to offer an amendment during this debate to ensure that, as the House
did, illegal aliens do not receive assisted government housing
benefits.
So that aliens do not come to this country illegally and take jobs
away from law-abiding taxpayers, the bill directs the Attorney General
to conduct regional and local pilot employer verification projects to
ensure that employees are eligible to work in the United States.
Employers are already required to fill out the I-9 form to verify the
eligibility of employees. However, the I-9 system is open to fraud and
abuse--participants in the new system will be, for the most part,
exempt from the I-9 requirement. An improved verification system will
protect employers from unintentionally hiring illegal aliens and also
protect potential job applicants from discrimination. The bill
specifically prohibits the establishment of any national ID card.
Employee verification can only be used after an employee is offered a
job, and would require a subsequent vote in Congress before a national
system could be established. I was pleased that the committee passed my
amendments to limit liability and cost to employers who participate in
any system.
Importantly, this bill will assist our Government in its primary
responsibility; protecting U.S. borders and enforcing U.S. laws. After
all, we are a nation of laws. We cannot turn a blind eye to those who
break our immigration laws. We simply cannot afford to anymore. We must
gain greater control over our Nation's borders, prevent illegal entry
and smuggling, and detain and swiftly deport criminal aliens. S. 1664
will help achieve these objectives. Increasing the number of Border
Patrol agents, and improving technology and equipment at the border has
been one of my priorities, so I was particularly pleased that the
committee adopted my amendments to train 1,000 new Border Patrol agents
through the year 2000 and to require, as recommended by Sandia Labs in
1993, the construction of a triple-tier deterrence fence along the San
Diego border; and to increase the number of INS detention spaces to
9,000 by the year 1997. This increase in detention space will raise by
66 percent detention space available to the INS to detain criminal
aliens awaiting deportation and other aliens who are at risk of not
showing up for deportation or other proceedings. The bill also requires
the Attorney General to report to Congress on how many excludable or
deportable aliens within the last 3 years have been released onto our
Nation's streets because of a lack of detention facilities.
In addition, the bill allows the Attorney General to acquire U.S.
Government surplus equipment to improve detection, interdiction, and
reduction of illegal immigration, including drug trafficking, and
allows volunteers to assist in processing at ports of entry and in
criminal alien removal. These provisions will go a long way toward
effective control and operation of our Nation's borders.
In addition to more effectively controlling our border, further
modification of our laws is needed to create disincentives for
individuals to enter the
[[Page S3348]]
United States illegally. I plan to offer two additional amendments to
deal with this issue. The first would amend section 245(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, so that illegal aliens who become
eligible for an immigrant visa can no longer attain the visa by paying
a fee that lifts the requirement to depart the United States. Section
245(i) encourages people who are awaiting an immigrant visa to jump
illegally ahead of others, simply by paying a fee. Senator Hutchison
and I also plan to offer an amendment that, with a number of
exceptions, would exclude for 10 years those who have entered without
inspection from obtaining a visa.
S. 1664 also makes clear that you cannot skirt the law by entering
the country legally and then overstaying a visa. Another amendment I
offered that the subcommittee adopted requires individuals who have
overstayed their visas to return home to obtain another visa, period.
And, the last successful amendment regarding overstayers, offered by
Senator Abraham and cosponsored by me, requires visa overstayers to
return home for 3 years before applying for another visa. While this
last amendment goes far, I plan to offer an amendment with Senator
Hutchison that would, with a number of exceptions, exclude for 10 years
those individuals who have overstayed their visas for more than a year.
For those individuals who come to this country and commit crimes--and
there are 450,000 criminal in jails and at large in this country--there
are provisions in the bill to keep them off our streets and deport more
quickly. I am pleased that a bill I introduced last year, to encourage
the President to renegotiate prison transfer treaties so that aliens
convicted of crimes can no longer choose whether or not they serve out
their sentences here or in their home country, was added to the bill.
Also passed was my amendment to advise the President to renegotiate
these treaties so that if a transferred prisoner returns to the United
States prior to the completion of a sentence, the U.S. sentence is not
discharged. The committee also passed a number of amendments I
cosponsored, offered by Senator Abraham, that strengthen the detainment
and deportation of criminal aliens in other ways.
There are a number of other provisions in this bill that are
important, including provisions to streamline the system by which
asylum seekers apply to stay in the United States. While refugees are
still offered important protections, abuse of the system will be
largely curtailed by a new system allowing specially trained asylum
officers at ports of entry to determine if refuge seekers have a
credible fear of persecution. If they do, then they go through the
process of establishing a well-founded fear of persecution in order to
stay in the United States.
By allowing these especially trained officers to make decisions at
ports of entry, it will be more difficult for individuals to simply
fill out an asylum application, be released into the streets, and
possibly never show up for asylum proceedings.
The bill we are debating this week includes provisions that Senator
Simpson and his staff have worked hard to develop and protect. Many of
them are a response to the Jordan Commission recommendations. It
includes bipartisan provisions on which Senators from both sides of the
aisle have diligently worked.
As we begin to consider this important bill, we have to remember
that, unless we protect our borders and insist that our immigration
laws are taken seriously, we undermine the law, and that undermines the
United States as a land of opportunity for all--both foreign and native
born. My grandparents immigrated to the United States from Holland. I
think they would be concerned about how our immigration system works
today.
The American dream must be kept alive for citizens and for those who
came here legally. A government not in control of its own borders is
not serving the public well.
I urge my colleagues to pass a bill that will address these important
problems. Again, I very sincerely thank the chairman of the Immigration
Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee for his long years of work in
this area and for his willingness to work with everybody on the
committee to craft the best bill possible so that he can begin to deal
with these serious problems.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Arizona. I only
want to say that it has been a great joy to work with him on the
Committee on Immigration. He is a remarkable contributing member,
brings a vigor and intelligence and skill to the committee, to the
subcommittee, and to the full committee. There could not be a finer new
Member of the body participating in the measure, and it will be a great
personal satisfaction for me that he will continue on with this issue.
I certainly hope, also, that it might be in the capacity as chairman of
the Subcommittee on Immigration.
I know that Senator Kennedy will work with whoever my successor will
be, and I think we will find certainly a great deal of pleasure in
working with Senator Kyl. I thank him very much for all that he has
done.
I yield to Senator Bryan of Nevada since the business of the floor is
the immigration bill and since I hold the floor.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, regular order.
Mr. SIMPSON. I hold the floor. I believe that is the case.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. SIMPSON. You recognized me. I intended to yield to Senator Bryan.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kyl). The Senator will state the
parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. DORGAN. The Senator from Wyoming yielded to the Senator from
Nevada for a question. Does the Senator from Wyoming control time on
the floor of the Senate at this point?
Mr. SIMPSON. I have the floor, Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota should be
advised that Senator Simpson may yield to the Senator from Nevada with
consent.
Is there any objection?
Mr. DORGAN. I object.
Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, what is the status of the situation on
the floor at the present time? Objection is sustained and not----
The PRESIDING OFFICER. At the present time, I will advise the Senator
from Wyoming that, absent unanimous consent to do otherwise, the
Senate, under the previous order, will resume consideration of S. 1664.
Mr. SIMPSON. Yes. But after the objection, then there is no yielding
of any measure to the Senator from North Dakota. He does not then take
the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. SIMPSON. This Senator, I am advised and wanted to be absolutely
certain, does control the floor, and I can yield to the Senator from
Nevada, and at the end of that time I intend to yield to the Senator
from Wisconsin, Senator Feingold, and to Senator Grassley, because we
are doing an immigration bill. We are not doing Social Security. We are
not doing balanced budgets this morning.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. SIMPSON. Those are subjects that the Senator from North Dakota
would like to address.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
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