Political Quotes

“On September 28, 1996, the Senate passed the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, a 749-page bill with 24 separate titles. Included in that unwieldy legislation was the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, a far-reaching measure designed to curtail illegal immigration and prevent criminals from entering our country. This legislation, hurried to passage in the final days of a legislative session, has proven to be overly punitive in a number of cases, including that of Jesus Collado. On April 7, Jesus Collado, a 43-year-old legal resident of the United States, returned to this country after vacationing in the Dominican Republic, his homeland. Upon arrival at John F. Kennedy airport in New York, Mr. Collado was detained by INS officers who kept him handcuffed and made him sit on the floor of a room in the airport for nearly 24 hours. INS officials had determined Mr. Collado excludable because the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act made the misdemeanor on his criminal record a deportable offense. Twenty-three years ago, when Mr. Collado was 19-years old, he was convicted of a class A misdemeanor, having sexual relations with a minor, his 15-year-old girlfriend. I should note here that their relationship was a consensual one. Mr. Collado was sentenced to a year's probation, which he served. He has not been in trouble with the law since.”