A Legalization Program for Illegal Aliens Living in the United States. Statement before the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and International Law, House of Representatives

A legalization program for illegal aliens living in the United States is examined in this statement by Doris Meissner, Acting Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Meissner states that the Administration's current proposed legislation is designed to regain control of the immigration process through the development of more effective enforcement measures. This legislation is said to be based on the rationale that: (1) qualified aliens would be able to contribute more to society if they were granted the right to open participation; (2) the enactment of employers sanctions legislation would curtail further uncontrolled hiring of illegal aliens; and (3) legalization would enable the INS to target its enforcement resources on new flows of illegal aliens and avoid devoting limited investigative resources equity claims by aliens. Meissner explains that the current bill would provide "temporary residence status" to illegal aliens who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1980 and have had a continuous residence since that time. Meissner says that the Administration supports a one time legalization program but does not believe that the process of legalization should begin until new enforcement measures, such as employers sanctions have been instituted. (Author/JCD)