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< Go back to Immigration Daily Lamar Smith Press Conference
Statement On Amnesty FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 12, 2000 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The President is trying to attach a
massive amnesty for 1-2 million illegal aliens to the Commerce, Justice, State
Appropriations bill. The Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill funds
federal prosecutors, the FBI, federal judges, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the INS, the Counter Terrorism Fund,
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund, the Violence Against Women Act,
the U.S. Parole Commission, and the Civil Rights Division. The President would cut law
enforcement and threaten the safety and lives of the American people. In doing
so, he would punish law officers and reward law breakers. Amnesty increases illegal
immigration. The President would violate the trust of the American people to
reduce illegal immigration. We need to just say "NO" to
amnesty. The House Judiciary Committee had to
subpoena new INS estimates of the illegal alien population after the INS,
despite numerous requests, declined to make the information available to
Congress. The reason for INS’ reluctance is now obvious. Illegal immigration
skyrocketed after the massive 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens. Since the
Administration is seeking another massive amnesty this year, such evidence is
embarrassing. The INS now estimates that the net
increase in the number of illegal aliens residing in the United States averaged
457,000 in each of the five years immediately following the amnesty (1987-1991)
rising to a peak of 585,000 three years after the amnesty. This five year
average is 197% higher than the average net increase of 154,000 in the five
succeeding years (1992-1996), after the effects of the amnesty had dissipated. We should heed the lesson of the 1986
amnesty. Amnesty actually precipitates even more illegal immigration, as
individuals come to join their amnestied relatives or are encouraged in the
belief that if they can just elude the Border Patrol and stay underground for a
few years, they will eventually get amnesty themselves. The 1986 amnesty was a
clear failure - we now have 5-7 million illegal aliens residing in the U.S. The
Administration’s proposed large-scale amnesty could plunge us into a new
immigration crisis. Amnesty is unfair to the millions of
aliens who are waiting outside the country for their turn to come legally to
the United States. Amnesty sends the message: "Do not respect our laws. If
you come to the U.S. illegally, you will be rewarded." Through amnesty, we
are making law-abiding applicants wait longer while giving legal resident
status to lawbreakers. Amnesty also invites fraud. It is
extremely easy for aliens to purchase documents that show they have resided in
the United States since a given date. The 1986 amnesty program was rife with
fraud. One criminal investigation, "Operation Desert Deception,"
chronicled 22,000 amnesty applications filed just by one arranger, of which
5,500 application were admittedly fraudulent and 4,400 were suspected of being fraudulent. Amnesty punishes legal immigrants by
greatly increasing the time it takes for them to obtain visas for their family
members abroad. Once illegal immigrants are given amnesty and lawful permanent
residence, they can petition for visas for their family members - increasing by
years the backlog of petitions. Largely because of the 1986 amnesty, permanent
residents now have to wait 4 to 6 years to obtain visas for their wives and
husbands. Amnesty is bad policy. It rewards law
breakers, is unfair to law-abiding legal immigrants, makes a mockery of our
laws, and encourages new waves of illegal immigration. We must say NO to amnesty. Share this page | Bookmark this page The leading immigration law publisher - over 50000 pages of free information!
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