Jerry Nadler: “A lot of references have been made to 9-11 in this debate today. 9-11 occurred in my district. I would remind people…”

“A lot of references have been made to 9-11 in this debate today. 9-11 occurred in my district. I would remind people that the people who committed that dastardly act were in this country legally. So this bill has nothing to do with them, nothing to do with them. Also, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) says the people we are talking about, under section 245(i), came into this country illegally. No, they did not. They came in legally under a tourist visa or a student visa or a work visa, and they met all the requirements over the years to get a green card and a permanent residence. But the bureaucracy of the INS frustrated them by delaying approval of that green card, and completion of the bureaucratic work passed the expiration of their visa. For that reason, under current law, they have to leave the country. They may have to leave their family. Perhaps they married while in America and perhaps they have children who are American citizens. They have to leave their country, go abroad, perhaps for years, reapply, and then wait for the INS bureaucracy to finish what they should have finished beforehand. That is cruel. That is separating families from American citizens. That is unnecessary. That is all we are talking about here. All talk about amnesty and terrorism is nonsense and irrelevant to this bill, and so I urge the passage of this bill.”