Howard Berman: “It is already law that terrorists cannot assert asylum. That is the law. A balanced and sensible proposal to fix our…”

“It is already law that terrorists cannot assert asylum. That is the law. A balanced and sensible proposal to fix our broken immigration system involves better border security, it involves the U.S. Visit Program, it involves sensible reforms in the procedures, it involves combining watch lists. It does not require the gaming of the asylum hearing process in a way that would cause us to depart from the fundamental precepts this country has always had, that we are a refuge for true refugees fleeing persecution in other countries. The ``fixes'' in this process, in this bill, that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) seeks to strike, games the system against people who are true refugees. Please pass the Smith amendment.”