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Providing for Consideration of H.R. 4437, Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005

Date: Dec. 15, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Immigration


PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4437, BORDER PROTECTION, ANTITERRORISM, AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CONTROL ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - December 15, 2005)

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Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, every country has a right to control its borders to regulate who enters, and that includes the United States of America. Several speakers have mentioned that this obligation or right has been elevated since 9/11, and I think we all acknowledge that is true. Unfortunately, the administration has completely dropped the ball when it comes to regulation of those entering the United States without authorization.

I want to talk about just one item, which is the citation and release of individuals who are apprehended, who then promise to appear for their proceedings and then promptly disappear. The failure-to-appear rate appears to be in excess of 80 percent.

We have heard psychologists say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If so, the administration has lost its mind because this citation release program has not resulted in individuals appearing as promised.

Does this bill do anything about that, about the hundreds of thousands of individuals who are in America who made a promise to appear? Unfortunately, no, it does not.

Now, I am a member of the Homeland Security Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, and I have gone through this bill in some detail. There are some things that have absolutely nothing to do with unlawful immigration.

Section 404 of the act is something I want to mention because it is going to be important to a lot of Americans. This provision provides that the Secretary may deny admission to any person from countries that unreasonably delay or deny repatriation of citizens whom we have ordered deported. That is not about unlawful immigration; it is about people who are legal residents of the United States, husbands and wives of American citizens, who can be denied admission to the United States even though they are legal because the country they were born in has done something wrong. This is the new Chinese exclusion act which we repealed.

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