Bob Menendez: “I regret that some would use fear, would use the darkest shadows that might exist within our society, would use false…”

“I regret that some would use fear, would use the darkest shadows that might exist within our society, would use false statements to try to describe something that is basic justice. I guess Governor Bush's compassion does not extend to his party here in the majority in Congress. What we seek in this legislation, that is not here, is three simple common sense justifiable public policy immigration issues. They are: one, during the 1980s, the INS wrongfully denied, under U.S. law, thousands of persons who could have legalized their status to do so. And that is universally recognized. That injustice of the government should not be on the backs of those families but should be on the back of a government that unjustifiably, illegally denied them their opportunity to adjust their status. So we look to right that wrong. We hear a lot about family values. Well, that is what 245(i), which was the law of the land, stripped away by the Republicans in their last immigration bill, seeks to accomplish. We simply seek to restore that which was the law of the land and say that U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have family members here in the United States and who, under existing immigration law, have the right to adjust their status, should not be ripped apart and sent back while they are waiting to legalize a status that they have every right to accomplish. We should preserve families, and that is a family value.”