[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 22, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H5612-H5618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is
recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, a tsunami of illegal aliens is
sweeping into our country, crowding our classrooms, closing our
hospital emergency rooms, unleashing violent crime, and driving down
wages.
This is not theory. It is a harsh, threatening reality borne out not
by numerous academic studies, but by the life experiences of the
American families from California to Georgia and from Iowa to New
Jersey.
Our middle class is being destroyed. Our communities are not safe.
Our social service infrastructure is collapsing. And, yes, it has
everything to do with illegal immigration, illegal immigration which is
out of control. And year after year, while our schools deteriorate and
our jails fill and our hospital emergency rooms shut down, the elite in
this country turns a blind eye to the disaster that is befalling the
rest of us, their fellow Americans. The elites obscure the issue and
maneuver to keep in place policies that reward illegal immigrants with
jobs and benefits, and now, of course, being rewarded with citizenship.
This country, the upper class says, can't function without cheap
labor.
{time} 2130
Well, cheap to the captains of industry and the political elite, but
painfully expensive to America's middle class. It's our kids whose
education is being diminished, our families who are paying thousands
more in health insurance to make up for the hospital costs of giving
free service to illegals. It's our neighborhoods who suffer from crime
perpetuated by criminals transported here from other countries. And,
yes, our livelihoods are being dragged down as wages are depressed and
anchored down by a constant influx of immigrants, mostly illegal, some
with H1B visas, willing to work at a pittance.
Big business, with its hold on the GOP, in an unholy alliance with
the liberal left coalition that controls the Democratic Party, have
been responsible for this invasion of our country, this attack on the
well-being of our people. This coalition gives the jobs and passes out
the benefits that lured tens of millions of illegals to our country.
It's no accident. This predicament was predictable. It's been over 20
years of bad policy in the making. If you give jobs and benefits, the
masses of people over there will do anything to get over here. And
that's what we've been doing. Give it and they will come. Surprise,
surprise.
Now the out-of-touch elite has introduced yet another piece of
legislation, this so-called comprehensive reform bill that they claim
will fix our illegal immigration crisis once and for all. Of course,
this is a crisis they created. They are trumpeting the supposedly new
enforcement measures and security measures that will be initiated in
this bill, the border fence, new agents, new employer sanctions, if
only we will swallow hard and give amnesty to those law-breakers who
are already here.
Like Lucy holding out the football for Charlie Brown to kick, the
bill is yet another effort to trick us. It's an illusion, a scam that
will make things worse, not better.
The Senate legislation now being touted by Senator Kennedy and a few
Republican Senators immediately legalizes the status of 15 to 20
million illegals, while offering more border control, yes, fences and
Border Patrol agents and such, as sweeteners aimed at getting us to
accept this deal.
But we've already passed legislation addressing border security. It's
already into law. It's already against the law, for example, to hire
illegals. We've already mandated a stronger fence and more Border
Patrol agents. So, in reality, this legislation isn't about those other
things which they're trying to get us to support the legislation about;
this is only about legalizing the status of 15 to 20 million illegals
and then finding new ways to get more immigrants into our country. It
has nothing to do with controlling the flow of illegals and controlling
the flow of immigrants into our country, as much as it is expanding the
number of immigrants, legal and illegal, coming into our country.
In such situations as we find ourselves in today with this
legislation, it's fashionable on Capitol Hill to say ``the devil is in
the details''. And this
[[Page H5613]]
bill has enough demons to open up a whole new level of hell.
Let's start, first and foremost, with the most obvious lie, the claim
that this bill does not give amnesty to illegal aliens. President Bush
has done great damage to his credibility by playing such word games. My
friends, the first thing this bill does is legalize 15 to 20 million
people who now illegally reside in our country. I don't care what the
President calls it, it immediately legalizes the status of millions who
are here illegally.
Under the proposed legislation, this amnesty, and that's exactly what
it is, is now called a probationary Z visa. Upon passage of this bill,
every illegal alien who can claim they were here in the United States
by January 1 of 2007 can apply for a probationary Z visa that grants
them immediate legal status to be in the United States.
Listen carefully. Immediately upon this bill's passage, there is no
waiting for triggers or clarification or bureaucratic benchmarks, their
status is immediately legalized. It is very straightforward. These
probationary visas are available immediately upon the passage of this
bill, 15 or 20 million illegals immediately legalized in their status
here.
What message does this send to the 100 million or so people who are
waiting overseas? The 15 to 20 million newly legalized immigrants will
be quickly followed by 50 to 100 million more illegals flooding our
system beyond the point of return. If we let that happen, this will be
a catastrophic event of historic proportions. More importantly, for the
American people, it will be a calamity for their communities and for
their families.
According to this so-called immigration reform bill, how does an
illegal become legal? Well, first of all, he temporarily, right off the
bat, becomes legal once this bill passes. Very simple, if he wants to
make himself legal, then beyond that, he or she walks in and applies.
Or he or she just, they don't have to pay back taxes; they don't have
to do anything else.
If this bill passes, he or she doesn't have to go through health
checks. They don't have to have any other process. They will be
granted, immediately after the passage of this bill, legal status to be
here, legal status that is supposedly temporary. Supposedly. The
illegal pays a fine of $1,000 for this probationary visa, not the
$5,000 that we've all heard about. It's $1,000. And for $1,000, one can
obtain the legal right to work in this country, to participate in our
Social Security system, to be protected by our laws, and given benefits
from our government, a plenty good bargain for them.
But for the taxpayers it's worse than a raw deal. Yes, out of the
shadows will come 15 to 20 million people who will now be demanding
equal rights to live here freely, to get jobs, to consume resources
that they are not now entitled to consume because they are now here
illegally.
There is another detail that makes this process dangerous and
unworkable. The government, according to this legislation, has only 1
business day to act once an application has been submitted, and that is
just 1 day to look over that application and to approve it. After 1
business day, that's 24 hours, the government must issue the amnesty to
that applicant.
Is there anyone who doesn't understand that this means huge numbers
of criminals and, yes, terrorists, who will obtain the legal right to
live and work here in the United States under this rule because of this
legislation? One day to oversee this applicant?
One needs to ask, who is writing such obvious insanity into Federal
legislation? Obviously, whoever is insisting on a 1-day review, that
must be followed by an approval if one doesn't object; 1-day review,
obviously, the person who's advocating this doesn't care about us at
all. He's looking to make sure that we treat those people who are in
this country illegally better. This person obviously doesn't care,
who's written this into our Federal law, or is trying to, doesn't care
if Americans are victimized by criminals who should never have been
permitted to come here, but will come here because we're only requiring
1 day to determine if they can be approved or not.
Now, you think that criminals throughout the world and even
terrorists don't see this as a vulnerability? Who's trying to foist
this off on us? Who's trying to write this into Federal law? They're
not watching out for the interests of the American people.
This Z visa gives illegal aliens exactly what they want, the legal
right to work in the United States, and the Z visa is renewable every 4
years, without limits. The way this bill is written, you can live in
the United States until you die by renewing your Z visa every 4 years.
Fellow Americans, who love this country, word games aside, this is
amnesty of the worst possible sort. Millions of illegals who broke the
law will be granted legal status and can stay in this country as long
as they please. In fact, I predict millions of people who are currently
holding valid student and tourist visas will immediately apply for the
Z visa. And why not? Student and tourist visas expire. The Z visa won't
expire; every 4 years you can just renew it.
Only if the alien wishes to become a citizen do the increased fines,
that $5,000 we've heard about, only if they want to become a citizen do
these fines and other requirements come into play.
No serious person in the immigration reform movement has ever said
that it is citizenship that defines amnesty. Amnesty is not being held
to account for breaking the law. This Z visa goes beyond not punishing
law breakers. It actually rewards law breakers.
Wake up, America. Someone is giving away our country. Someone is
betraying the interests of the American people. The perpetrators of
this crime want low wages for the benefit of business and they want
political pawns for the benefit of the liberal left.
This legislation will make a bad situation that we all know exists in
this country, it'll make it dramatically worse. Is this what the
American people are calling for when they want comprehensive
immigration reform? They want something that will make it worse than we
have it today?
I don't understand how we can stand and let this happen to our
country. It is up to us to make sure that it doesn't.
This legislation is a declaration of war on the American middle
class. And not only will this legislation increase illegal immigration,
a clause in the bill will create a rush to the border. Section 601H5
states that anyone arrested trying to cross into our country, who then
claims to have formerly lived in the United States will be allowed to
apply for a Z visa; which means they can be approved in 1 day.
This is a mind-boggling incentive for fraud. Who wouldn't want to
come across the border on the chance that they could bluff their way
into getting amnesty and becoming eligible for all our government
programs and eligible for the jobs that should be going to Americans?
Expect to hear ballyhoo about the tough enforcement mechanisms and
the ``triggers'' built into this bill. But don't believe it; it's just
so much more fraud, more flim-flam. The triggers and other schemes in
this bill are a farce.
There is no reason these safeguards against illegal immigration have
not already been implemented. They are now simply being used as a ruse
to disguise the one goal of the elite, and that is to legalize the
status of those millions who are already here illegally and leading
tens of millions more to come here.
The bill calls for 18,000 Border Patrol agents. That's one of the
claims of why we have to support the bill. We're going to get 18,000
Border Patrol agents. But we already have 15,000 Border Patrol agents.
And in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004,
it's required that there be 2,000 new Border Patrol agents each year
through 2010. So this is simply smoke and mirrors.
What this new legislation does is simply reiterate hiring mandates
that are already in the system, already mandated by law. This bill
simply takes credit for the hard work that's already been done. Of
course, they're doing that because, again, it's a cover for their
attempt to legalize the status of 15 to 20 million illegals and, yes,
to unleash a flood of millions more to come into our country.
On another level, how does anyone expect to actually meet the goal of
increasing the ranks of the Border Patrol when this administration
throws Border Patrol agents into prison and gives immunity to alien
drug smugglers? This administration has lost the confidence of the
Border Patrol.
[[Page H5614]]
And I submit at this time a statement by the Border Patrol Agents
Council opposing this legislation. I would like to put this into the
Record at this point, Mr. Speaker.
[From the National Border Patrol Council of the American Federation of
Government Employees, May 17, 2007]
Senate Immigration Reform Compromise is a Raw Deal for America
More than a century ago, the philosopher George Santayana
sagely observed that ``those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.'' The United States Senate would do
well to heed that advice as it once again debates immigration
reform.
In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control
Act. At that time, it was estimated that between three and
four million illegal aliens were living in the United States.
The bill promised to crack down on the businesses that hired
illegal aliens and step up border enforcement efforts. Since
those measures would finally solve the problem of illegal
immigration, Congress reasoned, there would be no harm in
establishing a pathway to citizenship for those who had been
working in this country for a minimum period of time. It was
assumed that about one-half million people would qualify for
that benefit under those terms. In the final analysis,
however, nearly three million illegal aliens became citizens,
many of them through fraud. A large number of criminals and
even a handful of terrorists were among the beneficiaries of
that program.
Twenty-one years later, it is estimated that at least 12
million, and perhaps as many as 20 million, illegal aliens
reside in the United States. Quite obviously, the promise of
enforcement never materialized. Now, some elected officials
are desperately trying to convince the American public that
they are finally serious about keeping that promise, and to
prove it, claim that they will add about 5,000 Border Patrol
agents and 370 miles of border fencing, as well as an
electronic employment verification system. While this
represents a slight improvement over the current untenable
situation, it will by no means stop, or even substantially
slow, the current rate of illegal immigration.
As long as impoverished people can find work in this
country at wages that far exceed those available to them in
their native countries, millions of illegal aliens will
continue to cross our borders every year. The only way to
stop this influx is to eliminate the employment magnet by
means of a fool-proof employment verification system. While
the plan unveiled by the Senate takes a few small steps in
that direction, it would do very little to actually hold
employers accountable. In order to achieve that goal, every
prospective worker must be required to present a single type
of secure biometric employment-verification document whenever
applying for a job, and every prospective employer must be
required to electronically verify its authenticity. The
logical choice for this document is the Social Security card,
which every legal worker is already required to possess.
Those who claim that it would be impossible to arrest and
deport millions of people ignore economic reality. If illegal
aliens can no longer find work in this country because
employers are afraid of the consequences for hiring them,
they will go home of their own accord.
Unless Congress gets serious about worksite enforcement, it
will be impossible to secure our borders. The Border Patrol
is totally overwhelmed by the high volume of illegal traffic
that streams across our borders every day. Front-line agents
estimate that for every person they apprehend, two or three
slip by them. At the same time, Border Patrol agents need to
be provided with the necessary tools and support in order to
be able to intercept the criminals and terrorists who will
continue to attempt to breach our borders.
T.J. Bonner, the president of the National Border Patrol
Council, issued the following statement today:
``Every person who has ever risked their life securing our
borders is extremely disheartened to see some of our elected
representatives once again waving the white flag on the
issues of illegal immigration and border security. Rewarding
criminal behavior has never induced anyone to abide by the
law, and there is no reason to believe that the outcome will
be any different in this case.''
``The passage of time has proven the 1986 amnesty to be a
mistake of colossal proportions. Instead of `wiping the slate
clean,' it spurred a dramatic increase in illegal
immigration. With the ever-present threat of terrorism, it is
critical to take the steps necessary to immediately and
completely secure our borders. Piecemeal measures will
prolong our vulnerability, and are an open invitation to
further terrorist attacks.''
``Rather than the meaningless `triggers' of additional
personnel and barriers outlined in the compromise, Americans
must insist that border security be measured in absolute
terms. As long as any people or contraband can enter our
country illegally, our borders are not secure. Sadly, the
plan that the Senate is proposing falls woefully short by
that yardstick, and needlessly jeopardizes the security of
this Nation.''
{time} 2145
As we deliberate on this bill, it behooves us to remember that Border
Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean are at this very moment languishing in
solitary confinement in a Federal prison. These heroic border guards,
one a 10-year veteran who was up to be Border Patrol Agent of the Year,
another 5-year veteran, these people who were putting their lives on
the line for us on a daily basis for years, interdicted a drug smuggler
one day. This drug smuggler was transporting over $1 million worth of
narcotics into our country. Yet when all was said and done, and the
drug smuggler had escaped, but his drugs were interdicted and seized,
this administration turned what may have been just administrative
paperwork and literally things not reported right on paper, mistakes
that may or may not have been made by the agents, and I think that
after looking at this, there weren't mistakes, but if there were, it
was procedural mistakes, policy issues there that were being dealt with
on paper, they turned that into criminal activity, charging our Border
Patrol agents with felonies, putting them away for 10 to 11 years,
while siding with the drug smuggler, giving the drug smuggler immunity
to testify against the Border Patrol agents as they turned what would
be minor mistakes into felonies rather than trying to say, well, you
made some mistakes in this, but we will give you immunity, however, so
we can get the drug smuggler who is trying to smuggle drugs in to our
children and into our communities.
And then there are the cases of Gilmer Hernandez and Gary Brugman,
two more law enforcement officers, jailed for stopping human
traffickers. Again, the book was thrown at them, the maximum penalties
sought, but no prosecution of illegal criminal aliens.
This indefensible inclination of the administration, of President
Bush's leadership of the administration, has demoralized our protectors
at the border. According to the National Border Patrol Council, the
union representing 12,000 frontline Border Patrol agents, we are losing
12 percent of our Border Patrol agents a year right now. That amounts
to 1,500 officers quitting their job every year. And we cannot replace
the ones that we are losing. Why? Because this administration is not
backing them up; because they feel that they are being abused by the
people, by the government that they are serving. This is the
administration that claims to be doing things in this legislation to
help increase border security.
This administration, this President, has a miserable record of
providing border security. Our defenders have been undercut and abused
by a personal protege of the President of the United States.
This isn't as if President Bush doesn't know this. Attorney General
Johnny Sutton, a young man who has tagged his career to the President
for the last 20 years, he personally decided to prosecute these people,
these law enforcement people, to the fullest extent of the law. And he
has demonstrated that he will show no mercy for these Border Patrol
agents and law enforcement officers like Ramos and Compean. The White
House and Johnny Sutton will not permit these Border Patrol agents to
even go out on bond until their appeal is heard. And it was Johnny
Sutton, the U.S. attorney, and prosecutors that decided to prosecute
them and let the drug smugglers go, decided to throw the book at them,
decided to give gun charges against these people even though it is
their job to carry a gun in order to protect us.
Well, are we expected to believe that the legislation now pursued by
the President, who is behind such nonsensical policies at the border,
will help make our borders more secure, help stem the out-of-control
flow of illegals into our country? How can we believe that that is what
the purpose of this legislation is when at this time the administration
is taking steps and has taken steps for the last 6 years to ensure that
we would have a massive flow of illegals into our country? These people
didn't just materialize into our country. They have come especially
from across the southern border, but across our other borders as well,
and there has been no attempt by this administration to get control of
the people who are entering via airports from other parts of the world,
people who then just overstay their visa.
Well, this administration has not done this and has attacked our
Border
[[Page H5615]]
Patrol agents instead. So much for the idea that this legislation,
backed by Senator Kennedy and the President, will somehow strengthen
the Border Patrol.
The next trigger that we are told about is similarly fraudulent. The
bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have the
resources to detain up to 27,000 illegal aliens. How about that? But
the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004 already
requires almost double that number, 43,000 beds. Again, the bill is
simply taking credit for legislation and for mandates that have already
been passed into law. They are doing this to confuse the American
people because they are using this as a cover to legalize the status of
15- to 20-million people who are here illegally, which will attract
tens of millions more.
And what this bill doesn't do and what it doesn't require may be just
as significant as what it does. It does not require worksite
enforcement. In an amazing loophole. It only requires the Department of
Homeland Security to have the tools to conduct worksite enforcement,
but nowhere in the bill does it mandate the Department of Homeland
Security to actually conduct worksite enforcement. Since millions of
illegal aliens come here looking for work, worksite enforcement is
imperative if we are to discourage illegal immigration.
If the Department of Homeland Security has the tools, but this so-
called comprehensive package does not require them to use the tools,
then we are right back in the situation that we are now. The law isn't
being enforced. If it was, then the situation would not have gotten out
of hand, as it is today.
One of the triggers in this legislation actually reduces border
security. It cuts in half the border fence that Congress required to
build on our southern borders. Now, remember we already passed the
legislation requiring a fence. Everybody remembers that. Now those who
ignored that mandate, the President and others who ignored that
mandate, are telling us we must legalize the status of millions of
illegals who are in this country in order for us to get what is already
required by law. Now, what makes us think they are now going to obey
the law, the agreement that they made?
What this bill doesn't do, as I said, speaks as loud as it what it
does. It does not require the U.S. to have a verifiable exit system so
we know that when visiting foreigners come into the U.S., then we have
no idea if they have left. Someone who is coming into the United States
on a visa can overstay their visa, and we don't know if they have left.
How can we seek out and deport someone who has violated their visa if
we don't even know if that person is in the country or not? There has
been no effort on the part of this administration to try to fix that
problem, and this bill does not mandate that.
Furthermore, it does not mandate checks on legal status in order for
people who are here to get benefits. So those who oversee the limited
resources that we have for our own people aren't expected to verify the
legal status of those seeking to obtain services or benefits that are
paid by the taxpayers. Our own people are going to suffer because of
this. This is the comprehensive bill that is supposed to help our
people; yet it leaves us vulnerable. Illegals are waved right through
the system.
Let me give you an example. What I have learned is that there are
hundreds of thousands of illegals throughout this country who are in
Federal housing. Why? Because one member of their family, perhaps a
child that was born here once they came to this country illegally, one
child becomes a U.S. citizen, and if they have one child as a U.S.
citizen, the whole family then gets to have housing benefits from the
Federal Government.
Now, tell me this: The American people who are paying the bills,
shouldn't they be getting this benefit rather than a family from
overseas who has one child in this country who then supposedly becomes
a citizen? What about our people who are barely making it, who can
barely afford to pay their rent? They don't get the housing subsidy.
What about our seniors who lose their income or they can't make it on
what their retirement income is? They don't get the help. But illegals
are being herded right through the system and given this help because
they have a child that was born here.
We shouldn't even permit an illegal who has a child here to think
that that child is going to be a legal citizen. That itself should be
taken care of in this legislation, and that isn't being taken care of.
And by letting anyone who is born here become a U.S. citizen, we have
again opened up all these benefits to illegals, millions of them, and
we have also invited millions to come here to make sure their children
become citizens by being born here.
And, by the way, the triggers that we have heard about will unleash
forces that they claim will make things better, but what about these
triggers? How are these triggers going to be met? Well, the Secretary
of Homeland Security, all he has to do to say that the triggers have
been met is simply submit a written piece of paper that claims the
triggers have been met. There is no actual reduction in illegal
immigration required before there is a trigger which brings in all of
these new immigrants and opens up the rest of the legislation. There is
no decrease in, for example, those people who are involved in trying to
get jobs through the match file system of Social Security. No, that
would be measurable. Perhaps if we had a reduction in the number of
illegal aliens in our prisons that could be noted, maybe that would be
a good trigger, or anything else that can be objectively measured. No.
That might mean that we are actually making progress, and that is the
real reason why you have triggers. No, the triggers are there to
provide cover.
The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, all he has to
do is simply sign a letter saying that the trigger elements are funded,
in place, and in operation. So these supposed triggers, these supposed
safeguards, they just have to be in place. They don't have to have any
results, and at that point, that is when the rest of the safeguards
don't make any difference at that point. That is when the meat of the
bill goes into effect. The immigration spigot will be turned on by a
simple piece of paper saying that something is in place, not
necessarily working.
And as we have seen, several of these triggers that I have already
mentioned have already been put in place by prior legislation. The
wall, building the wall, and expanding the Border Patrol agents, they
have already been mandated. So one can expect the trigger letters that
we are talking about that they are saying we are going to hold off
until this situation is under control, they will be issued almost
immediately, and that is predictable.
And what happens when a letter certifying that we have gotten tough
with border security is issued? Well, once that letter is issued, this
legislation provides that a massive, and I mean a massive, guest worker
program is then launched. You get that? Expanding the Border Patrol
agents and the fence and these things, when they just say they are in
place, all of a sudden the new guest worker program is brought out and
launched into service.
The deep pool of illegals currently here is going to be boosted by a
flood of new illegals who know that if they get here, they will likely
be given amnesty just like we did in 1986 and just like people are
trying to do right now.
{time} 2200
The lies of the past are almost as blatant as the fraud we are now
confronting. The unspoken truth is Senator Kennedy wants extremely high
levels of immigration. The truth is, President Bush wants extremely
high levels of immigration. It hurts the well-being of the American
people, but if it does, so be it. That's what Senator Kennedy and
President Bush want.
It isn't enough that we have a 15 percent unemployment rate among
high school dropouts in this country, and millions of lower-income
Americans who are seeing their wages buy less and less. It isn't enough
that immigration has reduced the wages of low-skilled Americans by
about $2,000 a year. Apparently, we need to push them into abject
poverty by importing 400,000 guest workers a year to compete directly
with Americans. Yes, 400,000, and again, now, details matter.
While Y visas, which are designated for those who are in this new
temporary guest workers program, while
[[Page H5616]]
they are supposed to be only temporary and only good for 2 years, a Y
visa holder can eventually apply and get U.S. citizenship. They can
also bring their spouse and children. They can stay for 2 years to
work. Then they return home, and then they reapply for another 2-year
visa. They can renew the Y visa this way up to three times.
Now, who in their right mind actually believes that these people,
once they've uprooted their families and they brought all this and met
these other requirements, that once they are here, that they are just
going to go back? When we have millions of people swarming into this
country because we've already given amnesty to everybody else, why
won't these people in the guest worker program just melt right into the
crowds, just go right there?
And, of course, they might go in and ask for green cards, which they
can do, or they will just melt into the system, melt into our country.
Why not?
Well, does this sound like it is a temporary guest worker's program,
that 400,000 people are going to be here temporarily? Well, who gets
hurt by this nonsense?
This bill allows employers to lay off American workers and replace
them with Y visa holders as long as the Americans were fired 90 days
before the petition of the foreign worker is filed. This is a huge
subsidy to corporate America. It is both corporate welfare and an
attack on the paycheck of hardworking Americans who are struggling to
keep afloat.
We are told we must have these guest workers because Americans won't
take the jobs, like in agriculture. Well, there are Americans who will
pick fruit and vegetables. Don't tell me there aren't Americans who
will go out and do this kind of labor in the fields. In fact, I've
visited compounds where you have thousands of Americans, men, healthy
men, between 18 and 40 years old, who would love to get out and earn
some money. These are men in prison. These are prisoners who, after
serving their time, 5 to 10 years, they get out with no work ethic, no
money, $50 in their pocket and a new suit; and people are surprised
when they come back to prison after committing more crime.
Well, let's put these people to work, rather than wasting all of
their time, not developing any work ethic, let's let them earn $10,000,
$20,000, so when they get out, they will have some money in their hand
and they will have a work ethic. And half of the money can be used to
pay for their own incarceration.
When somebody like me says this in Washington, D.C., they make fun of
that. They make fun of me for suggesting that prisoners should pick the
fruits and vegetables. The people making fun of me, are they watching
out for the American people? These prisoners, they will be given a
chance if we let them earn a living, come out of prison with $10,000 or
$20,000 that they've earned, and they've paid some restitution in the
meantime. So there are people who will do these jobs, even the
agricultural jobs.
We are told we must have guest workers because Americans won't take
the jobs, like agriculture and other jobs, because the guest worker
program isn't just agricultural work. Look real close, Mr. and Mrs.
America. This guest worker program includes a lot of other jobs rather
than just agricultural work, cleaning hotel rooms and construction
workers, for example.
Now, is it really true that Americans won't do that, or Americans
won't be nannies for other people's children? No. Americans will do
those jobs as long as they get pay commensurate for their work. No,
they won't work like slave labor, like illegals who are pouring over
the borders into our country to fill these jobs.
There are millions of American women who would love to drop off their
children at school at 9 o'clock in the morning and go to work at these
various hotels, cleaning the rooms and changing the sheets and then get
off by 3 o'clock in order to pick up their kids at school. Yes,
millions of American women would like to do that, but they're not going
to work for a pittance, they're not going to work as slaves. They want
benefits if they're going to work for the job. But with illegals
pouring across the border, these millions of American women are left
out.
There are millions of American women who would love to be a nanny for
some rich people who would like to have a nanny for their children, or
even some people who aren't so rich who would like to have some help
with their children, but they're not going to work for a pittance. And
all these rich people who have nannies from overseas and are paying
them half as much as they would have to pay an American woman to help
them, who is being helped? The rich lady or the rich woman who has the
children are being helped.
Yes, those rich people are being helped. Maybe the immigrant, the
illegal immigrant, probably woman, who is helping out as a nanny, she
has helped a little bit. Who is the big loser are the American women,
who could be earning a decent living to help their families by serving
as nannies, because they are women who are mothers and they know about
taking care of children. We have frozen them out of the market.
We are hurting the American family. We are making sure that families
don't have the extra money, and that these hotel chains can pay people
a pittance.
The guest worker program starts at 400,000, but it can be increased.
This bill allows for adjustments every 6 months based on market
fluctuation. Is there a doubt in anyone's mind that simply allowing the
number of guest workers to go up and down will not result in the number
of workers going up and up and up? H1B visas and Y visa holders will be
taking the jobs that Americans are willing to do, but they will be
driving down wages.
In Orange County, I went to a function a few years ago and a fellow
grabbed me by the arm and he said, Congressman, I am here to thank you.
He had a newspaper clipping when we were debating H1B visas here on the
floor of the House. He said Congressman, I read your quote. You said if
we bring in these hundreds of thousands of people on H1B visas from
India and Pakistan to work at our high-tech jobs, we are going to do
nothing but depress the wages of the people in the electronics
industry.
He said, I was laid off, and do you know what happened? I went back
to get my old job back. They paid me $80,000, and now they were
offering the same job to me for $50,000. And they looked at me and
said, if you don't take this, we can get somebody with an H1B visa to
take it, some Indian or Pakistani, so you'd better take it.
And he said, I did. He said, you know the difference, Congressman,
between earning $50,000 and $80,000 is? I said, what is it? He said,
you never dream of owning your own home if you make $50,000 a year.
We are destroying the dreams of the American people in order to what?
To bring down wages so that our business elite can prosper, and yes, so
that we can bring millions of illegals into this country, millions of
immigrants into this country, which the liberal left of the political
spectrum thinks that they are going to use these people as pawns in
their own political game. They are being exploited by the business
community and exploited by the liberal left who control the Democratic
party. This is obscene.
Who loses? Yeah, the immigrants are kind of losers, even though
they're a little bit better off. The American people are the losers.
What happens to particular Americans isn't the worst of it. Not only
do we greatly expand our guest worker program, we are actually
increasing chain migration, even though they are telling us this bill
will take care of that. Chain migration allows an immigrant to bring
his spouse and children and the sisters and brothers and in-laws,
grandparents, aunts and uncles.
One of the reasons the wait to migrate to America is so long for many
people overseas is that the open slots that could become open to
immigrate here legally are going to people who are bringing their
relatives over, people who may immediately be on the dole, people who
can't even support themselves, but they are family members.
The Senate claims this bill will move away from that, that it will
point the system to a merit system, to those who have skills that
America needs and will be able to come into the country before the
relatives of those people are already here. Sounds pretty good in
theory, doesn't it? Once again, there are
[[Page H5617]]
so many loopholes in this bill that the reality of this legislation is
just the opposite for which it portends.
The bill, as written, for most of the next decade will dramatically
increase chain migration. Well, how is that? How? Right now, chain
migration is limited to 112,000 per year. This bill increases that. Get
this: Chain migration is 112,000 a year; this bill would increase that
number to 440,000 per year until the current backlog of applications is
filled.
That backlog will take 8 years, get that, 8 years to fix, 8 years
before the point system we are being told about will come into play, 8
years at a fourfold increase in chain migration during those 8 years.
Does anyone here really think that 8 years from now we will implement
a merit system for chain migration? By then we will have 50 to 100
million new illegal immigrants here who have swarmed into our country,
and we will be in the midst of chaos and confusion.
One might reasonably hope, after granting amnesty, establishing a new
guest worker program, increasing chain migration and requiring trigger
mechanisms that already are in place and aren't needed, that this bill
might at least crack down on illegal immigrant criminals. Well, don't
hold your breath. This bill imposes significant obstacles to removing
dangerous alien gang members from our country.
This bill also narrowly defines criminal gangs so that many small
gangs will be excluded from the bill. Further, the government must
prove bad intent on the part of the alien gang member in order to
remove the alien gang member. All a gang member has to do is sign a
piece of paper saying he has renounced his gang affiliation and he can
then get a Z visa. He is then getting a visa that will permit him legal
status here, even though he's illegal and part of a criminal gang. Of
course a gang member would never lie to us about that, would he? I
guess not. Why are we putting out this welcome mat for criminals? This
is madness.
Further, the bill weakens the law involving passport fraud and
misuse. It actually reduces the punishment for illegal reentry by
criminals into this country. The so-called comprehensive bill weakens
restrictions that are already in place.
And shockingly enough, this bill does not make engaging in a
terrorist activity proof that an immigrant is not of good moral
character, the good moral character, of course, being a requirement to
get a visa.
And the final insult, let's look at the highly touted electronic
employment eligibility verification, the system allowing employers to
make sure that the employees they hire are eligible for employment.
It's a fraud. Why? First, because the bill permits the entire system to
be changed by the Department of Homeland Security Secretary and the
Social Security Administrator.
Second, while an illegal alien is appealing a finding of
noneligibility for employment, so if he is found not to be eligible for
employment, while he is appealing that, he can appeal it
administratively, and then he can appeal it in the courts. The illegal
can't be fired while he is appealing that decision. That could go on
for years, and so the mechanism is irrelevant.
In real-life scenarios, this bill would make that mechanism to check
irrelevant. Forget whatever requirements are in the bill. There are
over 40 pages of such requirements, such as, in section 302 of the
bill, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary and the Social
Security Administrator are given authority to change any requirement.
Any of the supposed tough mandates can be administratively done and
deleted simply by publishing these changes in the Federal Register.
What is the purpose of defining a system for page after page in this
legislation and then saying, by the way, if you don't like it or get
too much heat from greedy employers or a confused press, don't worry,
you can change it? It can be changed easily without having to go back
to the Congress.
{time} 2215
This is not laying the foundation for meeting serious challenges.
This is creating a phony facade to make people think that something
else is happening.
The final slap? This bill legalizes in-state tuition for illegal
aliens. If your child goes 100 miles to the next State, he or she must
pay for out-of-state tuition. But an illegal alien who is smuggled
2,000 miles by their parents into this country can go to school cheaply
and on your tax dollar.
This much vaunted compromise that we are talking about, this
comprehensive bill, is in reality an amnesty for everyone; a new guest
worker program so your employer can throw you out of work. It vastly
expands chain migration. It guts enforcement provisions and makes it
easier for illegal alien criminals to stay. If this is a compromise, I
shudder to think what the other bill will look like. It would be more
honest for the Senate to draft up a bill declaring war on the American
people.
Robert Rector from the Heritage Foundation estimates the cost for the
out-of-control flow of illegal immigration will be over $2.5 trillion.
That is trillion dollars with a ``T.'' Baby-boomers retiring and the
looming crisis in Medicare and Social Security are upon us. What
rational person thinks that we can take on another $2.5 trillion in
obligations and not see the utter bankruptcy of our country? And what
rational person thinks we can absorb tens of millions of new illegals
who will be attracted to America once we legalize the status of this
bunch who are here now?
This goes deeper than economics. Why are we officially endorsing the
existence of a permanent class of illegal residents, because when those
50 to 100 million people get here, it will be over. A group of people
who are not citizens, who have neither obligation nor benefits of being
citizens, will be in our country forever. It will change the nature of
the United States. It is changing the nature of the United States.
I strongly support legal immigration. Legal immigrants are the
bulwark of our economy and our society. They are the most patriotic of
Americans. But they have come here to be Americans. They have come
here, legal immigrants have come here, to make sure they are healthy,
yes, and they can work and they can actually take care of themselves,
rather than be wards of the state. They have met these obligations.
They want to speak English.
But they have come here with the premise, everyone comes here who
comes to our country, they know, these legal immigrants, that they have
to give up their allegiance to their old country and to truly become
Americans, and they want to become Americans. I am proud of those legal
immigrants who support me in my district. They deserve the rights and
their families deserve the rights of every American, and no one should
ever interpret this battle against illegal immigration with any attack
on those wonderful American citizens who are here by choice and who
have come here legally and come here through the process.
We have a huge group of illegal immigrants here now, and a growing
number, who refuse to renounce their allegiance to their old country
and to their old ways, but loudly insist on being granted the economic
benefits of living in this country. This is a prescription for
disaster. For disaster.
Legal immigration is a controlled process. We take in more than all
the rest of the world combined. We have more legal immigrants into our
country than all the other countries of the world combined, and we can
be proud of that.
But it hasn't been enough for those who rake in higher profits when
wages go down or for those in the liberal left who want to
fundamentally change America and believe a mass of new immigrants will
help them do it.
America is a wondrous dream. We are letting an elite clique of
capitalists and leftists, as unholy an alliance as that is, to turn
this dream into a nightmare. The American people need to step forward
with a righteous rage. They are being betrayed. President Bush and
Senator Kennedy have an agenda that will destroy America's middle-
class. Those who sign onto this legislation are not, not, representing
the interests of the American people.
If we do not speak up, the Americans, the patriots, both legal
immigrants and people who are born here, if we do not step up there
will be another 50 to 100 million people here from abroad and they will
live here a decade from now and it will be a different country. We will
have lost our country.
Yet those supporting this invasion of America posture themselves as
morally
[[Page H5618]]
superior. Cities declare ``sanctuary'' for illegals, these illegals who
have broken our laws. These cities who are declaring sanctuary are
never asked who is being hurt. They think they are helping people.
It is not just the American people being hurt, it is those people
waiting in line overseas. Why should the person who has come here
illegally, the people who have come here illegally, get the benefits?
Why should the people who run the sanctuaries be on the side of those
people who cheated and cut in line in front of all of those hundreds of
millions of people waiting overseas?
The sanctuary cities are treating the good people who would immigrate
here legally and are waiting to do so as a bunch of saps. Any time that
we reward illegal conduct and these people who have come here illegally
and we say we are reaching out to them, we are going to try to help
them, what you are really doing is hurting the people overseas. You are
hurting someone else who is a decent, hard-working person who would
come here. So anybody who offers sanctuary and is reaching out to
illegals is doing nothing but hurting other people overseas. Of course,
they are hurting the American people. It is not enough to tell them
that. They are also hurting these poor people overseas. These sanctuary
cities are contributing to the breakdown of our society.
This ``holier-than-thou'' attitude is not humanitarian. It is phony.
Those posers are rarely willing to sacrifice their own resources. They
want to spend taxpayer dollars to take care of their humanitarian
instincts. The Catholic Church, for example, demands that illegals be
given healthcare and education benefits. Let the Catholic Church, if
they are serious, pay the bill for the illegals. They can do it. They
can provide schools and healthcare. There are a lot of Catholic
properties that could be sold to pay for their healthcare. No, they
want the American people, other people, to pay for it. The taxpayers.
That is not humanitarianism. That is not Christian charity.
Then what happens when the next wave gets here, 50 to 100 million
illegals? First and foremost, the American people should be loyal to
each other. We must care for each other. This is not hate mongering.
This is not being against people. Americans of every race, every
religion, every ethnic background, we need to be compassionate to each
other and each other's families. We must not drain the limited
resources that we have for the Americans in order to give it to the
other people who have come here illegally, because we must first care
for our own people.
That is not hate. That is the right kind of love you have in your
heart for your family and your neighbors. This is not humanitarianism,
when we give this away to others and encourage millions more to come
here. It will cause the collapse of our system and all of us will be
worse off.
The immigration legislation being foisted upon us will create a
different America with a permanent alien underclass, people who may or
may not share our Democratic values and may or may not be loyal to
America's ideals. It is time for patriots to act, to stand up and be
heard. Be angry. Call on elected officials to be held accountable.
This supposed comprehensive immigration bill must be defeated, and I
would call on my fellow Members of Congress and the American people to
join in this fight. We need every patriot to be activated now to save
America.
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