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< Back to current issue of Immigration Daily <Back to current issue of Immigrant's Weekly [Congressional Record: October 30, 2000 (Extensions)] [Page E2024] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:cr30oc00-19] COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE APPROPRIATIONS ______ HON. ANNA G. ESHOO of california in the house of representatives Monday, October 30, 2000 Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, when we passed the H-1B legislation recently, it was my deep regret that Congress missed an opportunity to grant long-awaited parity to certain groups of immigrants in our country. Today I rise to speak against the measure currently before us because we're heading for another missed opportunity. Significant portions of our Nation's population have been living, working, and raising families in the United States for many years. But they've been living in legal limbo, fearing deportation, because they were wrongly denied legal status to which they were entitled and which they qualified for in the 1980's Another group of immigrants has also been treated unfairly. In 1996 and 1997 Congress gave Nicaraguans and Cubans the opportunity to become permanent residents, but thousands of refugees from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti were left with only temporary residency status. This group deserves the same opportunity to obtain American citizenship. The remedy for these problems, the Latino Fairness and Immigration Act, has been kept out of the Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill. The Act is based on our country's basic tenet that people in similar situations should be treated equitably. It would keep immigrant families united through restoration of Section 245(i) of the INS Code. It would reward them for their hard work and recognize that they've paid their taxes and made other contributions to this country. It would also establish legal parity for all refugees who fled political turmoil in the 1990s. It is important to state that because of past congressional action and bureaucratic bungling, some who were eligible for a legalization program enacted in 1986 are now U.S. citizens, while others are facing deportation. If we pass the Latino Immigration and Fairness Act, we'd be rewarding people who have played by the rules, telling them that the U.S. Government is willing to correct its mistakes of the past, keep their families united and exercise fairness. What we're simply asking for is that a correction be made to an acknowledged wrong. Congress has taken this sort of action numerous times in the past when it has acted to legalize the residency of those who have been in America for many years. This fair remedy is long overdue. What has been brought to the floor is an incomplete, inadequate measure that rewards some and denies others. Its inadequacy and unfairness falls short of what we stand for as a nation and what in the name of fairness should be done. I ask my colleagues to reject the C-J-S appropriations bill for these reasons and instead support the Latino Fairness and Immigration Act. ___________________ Share this page | Bookmark this page The leading immigration law publisher - over 50000 pages of free information!
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