Statement by Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) on Corker-Hoeven Amendment to Gang of Eight Immigration Bill

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Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

Jun 20, 2013, 05:17 ET

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), issued the following statement about the Corker-Hoeven amendment to the Gang of Eight immigration bill, S.744:

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"The amendment offered by Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) offers promises of future border enforcement, while guaranteeing amnesty for illegal aliens immediately. Illegal aliens would gain irrevocable Registered Provisional Immigrant status whether or not the border enforcement promises in the amendment are ever kept.

"The amendment does nothing to address the significant problem of people who overstay visas and, in fact, weakens existing laws requiring the collection of biometric data on all people departing the United States via air, sea and land ports. Moreover, by Sen. Corker's own admission, the amendment he is offering fails to address concerns about interior enforcement of immigration laws.

"The Corker-Hoeven amendment includes no metrics to measure if the taxpayers' money is being spent effectively and that our borders actually are secure. Moreover, while Congress is making lofty promises about a fence and Border Patrol agents now, there is ample time for Congress to de-fund all of these promises, leaving Americans with only the amnesty.

"The Corker-Hoeven amendment is nothing more than a fig leaf designed to convince the American people that our immigration laws will be enforced in the future in exchange for granting amnesty to illegal aliens now. There is little in this amendment that should give the American people confidence that a new surge of illegal immigration will not occur over the next decade.

"The American people have been deceived too many times to believe the empty rhetoric of those who falsely claim that this legislation is tough on enforcement. It simply isn't, and there is little reason to believe that even the watered-down enforcement promised by the Corker-Hoeven amendment will be delivered.

"The Corker-Hoeven amendment simply puts some very expensive lipstick on a pig. S.744 will deliver amnesty to the people who broke our laws, it will deliver huge increases in foreign labor for business interests, but it will do nothing to protect the interests and security of the American people."

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation's immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest.

Visit FAIR's website at www.fairus.org.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)