[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IMMIGRANT WORKERS FREEDOM RIDE

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, immigrants who come to this country today 
work hard in the lowest-paying jobs, sometimes working two or three 
jobs just to support their families. They earn very little money for 
their efforts, but they bring the richness of hope to our civic and our 
cultural communities. They pay taxes. They are overwhelmingly honest 
and hardworking, and they deserve our respect. They wanted only a fair 
opportunity to share in the prosperity of this great country. They only 
want what so many others received before them.
  Today, because of outdated and unnecessarily burdensome immigration 
restrictions, many immigrants live their lives underground, cannot get 
an opportunity for a more formal, legal status and get the opportunity 
to work for citizenship. Immigration laws and policies that deny people 
opportunities for permanence or that leave them exploited should 
certainly be challenged. We should allow immigrant workers without 
documentation to seek permanent residency status without being forced 
to leave the country.
  Undocumented workers, who have lived here lawfully and productively, 
should be eligible for immigrant visas based on family relationships 
and job skills. They should have the opportunity to become legal 
permanent residents and eventually U.S. citizens.
  I join the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) in her support of 
the Freedom Ride Resolution and urge the President to reform our broken 
immigration system.

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