March 13, 1992 PRESIDENT BUSH ON IMMIGRATION +quot;Immigration reform began in 1986 with a

March 13, 1992


                  PRESIDENT BUSH ON IMMIGRATION


"Immigration reform began in 1986 with an effort to close the
back door on illegal immigration.  And now as we open the front
door to increased legal immigration, [the Immigration Act of
1990] provides long-needed enforcement authority.  It also
credits the special role of immigrants to America, and it will
promote a more competitive economy, respect for the family unit,
and swift punishment for drugs and crime."

                    President George Bush
                    November 29, 1990

The President is committed to insuring the full and fair
enforcement of this Nation's immigration laws.  At the same time,
the President understands the United States' historic role as a
land of opportunity and a haven from political oppression.

His Administration has acted deliberately to ensure both of these
immigration objectives, fostering legal immigration of productive
workers and political refugees and aggressively combatting
illegal immigration.  To this end, the Bush Administration has
compiled an impressive record of action in enforcing the
provisions of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.

In terms of fostering productive immigration, the Immigration Act
of 1990 will make it easier for exceptionally talented immigrants
such as scientists, educators, and engineers to put their talents
to work for America.


Recent Initiatives

The President's FY 1993 Budget and recent initiatives by the
Justice Department would significantly increase security along
U.S. borders.  Under these proposals:

o    500 new investigators and border patrol agents will be hired
     to interdict illegal drugs and illegal entrants along the
     Nation's borders including:

o    150 new investigators will be hired to locate and deport
     criminal aliens.

o    50 new investigators will be hired to help deter illegal
     immigrants by bolstering enforcement of laws against hiring
     illegal workers.

o    An additional $3.6 million will be spent by the INS to
     detain excludable aliens denied entry in New York City.  

o    Lawful immigration will be made more efficient; the INS will
     add 250 temporary workers to process applications and
     streamline the application process.  In addition, to reduce
     lines at INS District offices, 100 information officers will
     be added and 240 new airport inspectors will be hired to
     reduce immigration lines at airports.

All told, the Border Patrol will increase to 4,473 agents, an
increase of 8 percent.  For the INS as a whole, the new hires at
the Border Patrol and in INS processing staff will represent a
personnel increase of 7 percent.

This year, the President is increasing the total INS budget by
$174 million to a level of $1.5 billion.

On November 29, 1990, the President signed the Immigration Act of
1990, which raises annual immigration quotas from the 1989 level
of 540,000 immigrants to 700,000 immigrants per year until 1995.

The Immigration Act of 1990 includes measures to broaden the
diversity of our immigrant pool and facilitates the immigration
of entrepreneurs who invest at least $1 million (or $500,000 in
certain circumstances) in a new commercial enterprise and create
10 jobs.


Immigration / Interdiction Accomplishments

The number of illegal aliens apprehended by the INS Border Patrol
increased from 891,146 in 1989 to 1.13 million in 1991.

During FY 1990, the Border Patrol seized $1.6 billion worth of
illegal drugs in 5,000 individual seizures, an increase of more
than one-third over FY 1989 seizures.

Earlier this month, the INS levied its largest fine in history --
$1.1 million -- against a Georgia peach harvester for smuggling
aliens into the U.S. and providing them with jobs.  INS officials
concluded that the bust of such a major smuggling ring would put
"a major dent" in employment of illegal aliens in the Southeast. 
The $1.1 million fine is almost double that of the previous
record, a $580,000 fine against a South Carolina firm in 1989.

In September 1991, INS agents scored a major victory against
illegal immigration, shutting down a California counterfeiting
ring that was providing fake documentation to illegal aliens in
eleven states.  Agents seized two high-capacity printing presses
and over 250,000 phony identification cards that caused the
dismantling of the largest immigration counterfeiting operation
known to date.