(Washington Dec. 1) - The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) today issued the following statement: Overcrowded housing and schools, rampant document fraud, a record illegal alien population, increases in income inequality, rising poverty and the virtual displacement of native-born Americans from whole industries - these are the byproducts of a failure to manage immigration in the national interest. The failure must be shared by both the leadership of the congressional and executive branches - notably by Senate Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner.

Meanwhile, organizations, like the National Immigration Forum and the National Council of La Raza, are engaged in an early effort at machine-style political gamesmanship reminiscent of the early decades of this century - demanding more immigration amnesty/reward programs and a weakening of the beleaguered immigration laws to make today's token enforcement virtually nonexistent. FAIR will oppose all efforts to further weaken the rarely enforced reforms enacted by Congress in 1996. In addition, FAIR will be fighting to:

• Return to the unfinished agenda of legal immigration reform recommended by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform (the Jordan Commission) and deferred by Congress in 1996.

• Deter illegal immigration by adoption of a national system for employers to verify that all new employees are entitled to work in this country.

• Increase efforts to identify and remove illegal aliens through interior enforcement and increased cooperation with local law enforcement agencies in that effort.

• Improve entry/exit controls for foreign travelers so we know who is violating our immigration laws and to deter the entry of terrorists and other criminals.

• Curtail rampant document fraud by restoring integrity to state-issued driver's licenses as identity documents.

• Repeal the laws that encourage illegal immigration such as the Cuban Adjustment Act and the prohibition on open field enforcement actions by the INS.

• Seek a pledge by policymakers to never again reward illegal aliens with amnesty.

• End the giveaway of U.S. citizenship to the children born here to illegal aliens.

• Adopt a moratorium on all but core immigration.

FAIR 12/99