[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E984-E985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEES IN THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______


                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 1996

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of my colleagues I would 
like to have printed in the Record this statement by Tedra Guyett and 
Harmony Hariman, high school students from Washington County, VT, who 
were speaking at my recent town meeting on issues facing young people.

       My name is Harmony Hariman, and I'm a Student Area 
     Coordinator for Amnesty International, and I'm an intern with 
     the Vermont Refugee Assistance.
       My name is Tedra Guyette; I'm also a Student Area 
     Coordinator for Vermont, and I'm also an intern with Vermont 
     Refugee Assistance.
       The first thing we really want to talk about is a Bill that 
     was passed on March 21st in the House, HR 2202. That's really 
     upsetting to me, because it effectively banned people who 
     have genuine political claims . . . from ever entering the 
     U.S., or ever staying, because . . . When a person flees 
     their country with the fear of safety, and they come here, do 
     you think they're going to come off the plane and say, 
     ``Whoops, we better get a lawyer and file some papers?'' No, 
     they're worried about their safety. And often spend months 
     trying to save their families, and just getting settled, 
     which pretty much bans them from ever filing. The Bill HR 
     2202 would ensure that any immigrant or refugee who is caught 
     entering or crossing the border illegally will be permanently 
     barred from ever legally entering the country. Yet there are 
     instances where a refugee has no other option. Immigrants 
     lack knowledge about specific opportunities of become a 
     citizen, and often do not understand the process itself, or 
     how to negotiate the I.N.S. bureaucracy.
       There is a section of the bill that says that immigrants 
     who are here illegally, or undocumented immigrants, are 
     unable to receive health care through out public system.

[[Page E985]]

     And there's a myth that the reason that the health care 
     system is in the ground is because it's the immigrants, it's 
     the poor people that are just dragging it down. But really, 
     immigrants use health care less than the general public. A 
     1992 U.S. Dept. of Justice report found that immigrants use 
     federally funded services less than the general population, 
     and there have been several studies that show that it's not 
     immigrants that are pulling us down, it's everyone else's 
     stupidity and ignorance about the immigrants. Most hospital 
     care costs for undocumented immigrants were paid by private 
     insurance, which was 47%; or by the immigrants and their 
     families themselves, which was 45%. That only leaves 8% of 
     the immigrants in the country that were paid for by the 
     government.
       This Bill would also deny immigrants benefits under any 
     means-tested programs funded by the federal government, or by 
     state government, as well as being ineligible to receive 
     grants, to receive Earned Income tax credits, to receive 
     SSI benefits, Medicaid, Food Stamps, housing assistance, 
     unemployment benefits, college financial aid, among 
     others. Although, undocumented immigrants alone paid $7 
     billion per year in taxes. In 1990, undocumented 
     immigrants paid $2.7 billion in Social Security, and $160 
     million in Unemployment Insurance; and this is according 
     to a publication by the Urban Institute. (signal)
       I'm just going to do a quick story about a man that I know. 
     He's 18 years old, and is from Sudan, and is now lost in the 
     ``war zone'' of the American immigration system. He's 
     actually living in Woodbury; he is apparently some kind of 
     dangerous criminal because he came here with a false 
     passport; so, now he's in jail, and the first time I met him 
     I asked him, ``Well, how long will you be here?'' meaning, 
     how long would he be staying with family that he was staying 
     with. And he misinterpreted me to mean, ``How long will you 
     be in the U.S.,'' and just said, ``immigration,'' and 
     shrugged his shoulders. And that was probably the saddest 
     thing I've ever seen in my life, was this man-just lost.
       Due to time restrictions, we are unable to address all the 
     myths and . . . overstatements, but I can say that to blame 
     immigrants is to scapegoat an easy, unpopular target, and to 
     divert responsbility from more proper parties.
       Congressman Sanders: Thank you very much. Let me ask you a 
     couple of questions: what does political asylum mean, and why 
     is that important?
       Answer. Well, to me, it means someone who because of their 
     benefits, because of their actions, needs to flee their home, 
     needs to leave, whether it's because they were against their 
     government in this country . . . like the [last] girl was 
     saying, or the wrong color, in the wrong country; come to a 
     place where they can be safe, where they can wake up in the 
     morning and know that, ``okay, nobody's going to shoot me 
     today.'' That's what asylum means.
       Congressman Sanders: Okay. Were you immigrants?
       Answer. Yes, my family was . . . [there's] a history of 
     immigrants in my family.
       Answer. Being that we are white, I think we are all 
     immigrants, in this country.
       Congressman Sanders: so, essentially what you're saying is 
     that everybody other than the Native Americans are immigrants 
     if we are in this country?
       Answer. That's true.
       Answer. That's correct.
       Congressman Sanders: Okay. Thank you very much--excellent 
     presentation.

                          ____________________