William F. Smith: “Mr. Speaker, the immigration provisions in this bill unite immigrant families and reward those who play by the rules.…”

“Mr. Speaker, the immigration provisions in this bill unite immigrant families and reward those who play by the rules. This policy is pro-family and pro-immigrant. The bill speeds up the admission of immigrant spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents so they can join their husbands and wives and mothers and fathers who are already in the United States. Their wait now can be up to 6 years, and we want to shorten that. Another provision responds to one group seeking amnesty who deserves our help, those who met the conditions set out for amnesty under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and who may have wrongly been denied legal status by the INS. This bill would allow those aliens to apply again. Mr. Speaker, the White House wants to give amnesty to people who came to the United States illegally, who promised to return to their home countries, and failed to do so. We learned from the 1986 amnesty that amnesty does not end our illegal immigration problem. It actually precipitates even more illegal immigration, as individuals are encouraged in the belief that if they can just elude the Border Patrol and stand underground for a few years, they will eventually get amnesty themselves. It is no surprise illegal immigration doubled after the 1986 amnesty.”