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[Congressional Record: October 2, 2000 (Senate)]
[Page S9600-S9601]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr02oc00-139]
THE LATINO IMMIGRATION FAIRNESS ACT
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, last week, the Senate majority blocked
efforts to bring the Latino Immigration Fairness Act to the floor. This
bill embodies the essence of America: providing safe haven to the
persecuted and down trodden, supporting equal opportunity for the
disadvantaged, and promoting family values to our country's residents.
Many of my Senate colleagues perceive this provision to be a
necessary addition to the H-1B Visa bill, which extends temporary
residence to 195,000 foreign workers each year for the next two years.
The Latino Immigration Fairness Act legitimates certain workers who
have been living in the U.S. for over five years, and are ready,
willing, and able to permanently contribute to our workforce and
communities.
Unfortunately, the Majority's leadership has used parliamentary
procedures to block this bill from coming to the floor. I am
disappointed that too few Republican leaders support this meaningful
legislation becoming law. I am convinced that the Latino Immigration
Fairness bill has been proposed in the best interests of our country
and in accordance with our obligations to promoting democracy and
freedom in our hemisphere.
My support for this legislation is based on four fundamental reasons:
First, this bill would provide Central American immigrants previously
excluded under the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act, NACARA,
the opportunity to legalize their status; it would allow immigrants
applying for permanent residency to remain in the U.S. with their
families instead of forcing them to return to their country of origin
to apply (a process that can take months to years to complete); and it
would change the registry cut-off date to 1986, which would resolve the
14-year bureaucratic limbo that has denied amnesty to qualified
immigrants who sought to adjust their status under the 1986 Immigration
Reform and Control Act. Finally, this bill would resolve the status of
so many valuable members of American society. There are an estimated 6
million immigrants in the United States who are not yet citizens. A
majority of these immigrants have been here for many years and are
working hard, paying taxes, buying homes, opening businesses and
raising families.
For years, U.S. immigration policy has provided refuge to tens of
thousands of these Nicaraguans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans,
Hondurans, and Haitians fleeing civil war and social unrest in their
own countries. In 1997 the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American
Relief Act was signed into law. This statute protects Cuban and
Nicaraguan nationals from deportation from the United States. Those
residents who have been in the U.S. since December 1995 can now adjust
to permanent resident status. But Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans,
and Haitians are still not as fully protected.
In the last decade, Louisiana has provided refuge to thousands of
Hondurans seeking relief from natural and human disasters. Displaced by
storms, floods, war, and social unrest, many of these people have found
warm and comforting homes for their families in the American Bayou.
My State, particularly in New Orleans, boasts a proud tradition of
cultural diversity. The Honduran community was originally brought to
Louisiana through a thriving banana trade between the Port of Louisiana
and Gulf of Honduras in the early twentieth century. As the community
grew, Louisiana's Honduran population became the largest outside of
Honduras. For this reason, Louisiana seemed the most logical
destination for Hondurans fleeing instability during the 1980s and
1990s. Once again, my state, like many others, opened her doors to our
desperate Central American brothers.
The Latino Immigration Fairness Act will help fulfill a promise this
government has made to these refugees, and attempt to finish the work
of Presidents Reagan and Clinton. Under the Reagan Administration, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service set up special asylum programs
for these people to reside legally in the U.S.
Since then, they have greatly contributed to American society--
raising children, paying taxes, and establishing successful businesses
throughout our country--as well as contributed direct support to their
relatives left behind in their homelands.
In a democracy such as ours, we must be consistent in the principles
we uphold for our Latin neighbors seeking asylum. These people have
fled political instability and social upheaval in their native lands.
As the guardian of Democratic ideals and chief opponent of repression
in the Western Hemisphere, we must ensure that these residents adjust
their status to legal resident under the same procedure permitted for
Cubans and Nicaraguans.
In sum, I urge my colleagues to consider the United States' historic
commitment to fair immigration policies. Our country has been built and
continues to be sustained by immigrants.
In her poem, The Colossus, Emma Lazarus named our country the
``Mother of Exiles.'' Personified by the Statue of Liberty, the United
States of America continues to shine her torch on refugees from
instability and strife--We have opened our doors to people of all races
and nationalities, and have prospered from their valuable contributions
to labor, community, and culture.
Now, failure to pass Fairness legislation will take away our promise
of
[[Page S9601]]
freedom to so many deserving residents, and deny us the gifts they have
imparted to our shores.
Contrary to what our critics say, supporting this bill does not
condone illegal entry into this country. I am proud of our historic
value of the rule of law and territorial integrity. At the same time, I
am equally concerned that once certain people have resided in this
country for years and contributed to our country's prosperity, some
would have us uproot such valuable members of our society.
Let us not eject Honduran, Haitian, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran
nationals, who have, for so long, woven into the American fabric,
making American families, paying American taxes, building American
homes and businesses, and working for American labor.
Let us not revoke the American promise of freedom, and help deport so
many valuable members of our society. Let us vote for passage of this
very American legislation, the Latino Immigration Fairness Act.
____________________
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