Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton last night spoke on the Senate floor to introduce an amendment to the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 to reunite lawful permanent residents with their spouses and minor children caught in visa backlogs.  The amendment, which was defeated late last night by a vote of 44-53, would have exempted the spouses and minor children of lawful permanent immigrants from visa caps, finally bringing back together these nuclear families that have been separated.  The Senate last night also defeated an amendment offered by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and co-sponsored by Senator Clinton that would have moved the May 1, 2005 cut-off date for family backlog reduction to January 1, 2007, ensuring that all of those who have played by the rules and sought legal entry into the country are part of the backlog reduction.

“Hundreds of thousands of lawful permanent residents are separated from their spouses and minor children due to visa backlogs that can stretch for five years or longer.  Under our current policies, lawful permanent residents are forced to choose between their newly-adopted country and living with their spouse or children.  Five years in the life of a young child or a marriage is precious time that can’t be recaptured.  By defeating these family reunification amendments, the Senate missed an opportunity to take all the rhetoric about family values and put it into action and show that we mean what we say when we talk about putting families first,” said Senator Clinton.

More than 100 advocacy organizations and faith-based groups had endorsed and rallied support for the Clinton-Hagel-Menendez amendment, including the New York Immigration Coalition, Hispanic Federation, National Council of La Raza, Asian American Justice Center, Esperanza USA, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, World Relief Refugee and Immigration Programs, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, United Methodist Church, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Episcopal Church, AFL-CIO, SEIU and UNITE-HERE, among others.     

The following is a transcript of Senator Clinton’s remarks last night on the Senate floor:

 

 

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Senator Clinton: Mr. President, I know there are very strongly held and honestly felt disagreements in this chamber on the legislation before us, and many of these differences are mirrored across our country.

The issue of immigration strikes deeply at our values and our concept of America.  It stirs our emotions.  And while we may reach different conclusions, I think we all have to begin at the same place -- our immigration system is in crisis. 

Now, I have concerns about this underlying bill, but I think we all do.  This is not the bill that any of us individually would have written and produced for the senate's consideration.  But I commend the primary sponsors for bringing this to the floor of the senate so that we can debate the issues it raises and try to craft a solution that simultaneously honors our nation's strong immigrant heritage and respects the rule of law.

As a nation, we place a premium on compassion, respect, and policies that help families, but our immigration laws don't reflect that.  In fact, our current laws tear families apart.  

For lawful permanent residents and their spouses and minor children, this bill not only fails to help them, it actually makes matters worse.  It is time to take all the rhetoric about family values and put it into action and show that we mean what we say when we talk about putting families first.  And that's what my amendment does.

This amendment is a bipartisan amendment introduced with Senator Hagel and Senator Menendez.  It is our view that we must make reuniting families a priority in our immigration system; that we should show compassion for those living apart from their spouses and minor children; that we should reform immigration in a way that honors families and brings them together.  Unfortunately, the compromise bill before us fails to help families and children stuck in a bureaucratic quagmire created by our tangled, broken immigration system.   

Spouses of, and minor children of, lawful permanent residents applying for a green card are required to remain overseas while awaiting their new legal status.  The problem is, there is a huge backlog.  Despite what some have suggested on the floor this week, the visa backlog for spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents is significant and substantial.  According to the June 2007 State Department Visa Bulletin, the backlog is currently more than five years long.  Now, for some, that backlog can stretch even longer. And what does that mean?  Well--in very human terms--it means parents are forced to part from their children, husbands are separated from their wives, and tax-paying, law-abiding, legal immigrants who are doing the right thing are treated as though their families don't matter at all.

If you are a lawful, permanent resident and your spouse or minor children are caught in this long line, your family is not allowed to enter the United States, even for a brief visit. You are limited in your ability to leave the United States to visit your spouse and children overseas.  Under our current policies, lawful permanent residents are forced to choose between their newly adopted country and living with their spouse or children.  And, you know, five years may not seem long to some of us -- we serve six years in the senate; it seems to go by very fast -- but five years in the life of a young child or in a marriage is precious time indeed.  For a 10-year-old child, it is half of his life.  And it is time that can never be recaptured.  And, unfortunately, that five-year time frame is often much less than what actually happens to these families.  

We're proposing that spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents be exempt from the visa caps and that we finally allow that these nuclear families, who have been separated for far too long, be reunited.

This amendment is necessary because the compromise bill does absolutely nothing to bring these families together.  In fact, the compromise actually reduces the number of visas for spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents, and it does not allocate a single visa to address the existing backlog for these family members.  As I've said many times before, we have a national interest in fostering strong families.  

This amendment is supported by more than 100 faith-based family and immigrant advocacy organizations and denominations.  And I want to thank all of these organizations that have endorsed and rallied support for the Clinton-Hagel-Menendez amendment.  They do an invaluable service for people whose voices would otherwise not be heard.

So, Mr. President, I hope that on this particular amendment, it's not considered a bill killer.  It is not considered an amendment that everybody has to vote against who has agreed to the compromise because many of us know these legal permanent residents. Many of us actually work with them.  Some of them even contribute to the campaigns of people in this chamber.  These are people who are doing everything they can to play by the rules, except they are divided for years from their spouses and minor children.  

So, Mr. President, I would hope that this chamber would endorse this act of compassion and common sense. And I yield the floor.

 

 

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Read more statements by Senator Clinton concerning immigration.

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