S. 2252: ALIEN ADJUSTMENT AND EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1977 WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1978 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 11:10 a.m., in room 2228, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Dennis DeConcini (acting chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senator Scott. Staff present: Ed Loughran, staff director, Subcommittee on Immigration; Sid Rawitz, general counsel, Subcommittee on Immigration; and John Evans, minority counsel, Subcommittee on Immigration. Senator DECONCINI. The Committee on the Judiciary will come to order. We are considering today S. 2252, Alien Adjustment and Employment Act. We resume hearings. The first witness today is Hon. Juan Luis, Governor of the Virgin Islands. Governor Luis, we want to apologize for the delay in getting started this morning caused by other hearings which took some time. Please come forward and be seated. You are accompanied by Mr. Wisby and we are very pleased to have you both. Your statement will be printed in the record in full, Governor, and perhaps you would care to highlight it for us? STATEMENT OF JUAN LUIS, GOVERNOR, VIRGIN ISLANDS, ACCOMPANIED BY JAMES S. WISBY, COUNSEL TO THE GOVERNOR OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS Governor Luis. Mr. Chairman and members of this distinguished committee, in the interests of time I would like to shorten my statement. I will read the highlights as the full statement will be part of the record. Senator DECONCINI. Without objection, your full statement will appear in the record at this point. [Material to be supplied follows:] STATEMENT OF JUAN LUIS, GOVERNOR OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS Mr. Chairman, members of this distinguished committee: I am honored and grateful for this opportunity to appear before you for the purpose of delivering a statement regarding the position of my Administration on S. 2252, a Bill "To Amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for other purposes." The specific concerns of the Virgin Islands regarding S. 2252, to which I propose to confine my remarks, are those provisions which would: (1) Empower the Attorney General to update the registry of persons lawfully admitted for permanent residence to accommodate any alien, including an illegal alien, who is able to prove his continuous residence in the Virgin Islands from any date prior to January 1, 1970; (sec. 2) and (2) Empower the Attorney General to permit five-year temporary residence to any illegal alien who is able to prove his continuous residence in the Virgin Islands from January 1, 1977 or before. (sec. 4). The serious nature of the Virgin Islands immigration problem has been a matter of great concern to me from the onset of my succession to the governorship under the tragic circumstances of the death of my predecessor four and one-half months ago. In early March I established a Virgin Islands Immigration Policy Task Force, comprised of a representative cross-section of the Virgin Islands population, to conduct for the first time an in-depth study of the social, economic and political impacts of existing immigration laws and policies on the Territory, and to suggest revisions of those laws and policies. The Task Force will make detailed inquiry into fiscal impacts, based upon projected population increases and the need for expansion of health, education, housing, public safety and welfare programs. A determination will be made regarding the number of nonresident aliens who would be covered by proposed provisions to update the registry of persons admitted for permanent residency. Also of significant import will be a local determination of the feasibility of the Virgin Islands acquiring greater autonomy regarding immigration matters. It is unfortunate that the work of this Task Force has not progressed to the point that it could make specific recommendations to this Committee at this crucial time. The complex nature of the problems being addressed, however, dictates the need for careful investigation and deliberation. My comments today have, nevertheless, been prepared with valuable input from a special subcommittee of the Task Force, and therefore incorporate some degree of Virgin Islands community participation. I. NATURE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS IMMIGRATION PROBLEM The Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands, situated approximately 40 miles to the east and south of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is comprised of a land mass of only 132 square miles, distributed among the three main islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. the Territorial population of approximately 100,000 individuals is estimated to be comprised of 68,000 United States citizens, either native to the Virgin Islands, naturalized, or from the United States mainland; 16,000 permanent resident aliens; 5,635 temporary "H-2" workers and 6,984 "H-4" spouses and children; and 4,000 aliens not lawfully present in the Territory. Noncitizens, therefore, currently comprise 32 percent of the population of the Territory.1 The Virgin Islands are an integral part of the Antilles island chain. This chain is comprised of literally hundreds of islands which extend generally in a southeasterly direction to the northern tip of South America. Most of these neighboring islands, including Tortola, Anguilla, Antigua, St, Kitts, Nevis, St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, St. Lucia, and many others, are colonial or dependent areas of Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Others, such as Trinidad, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada, and the Dominican Republic, are independent nations, therefore benefitting from more generous United States immigration quotas than dependent areas." A number of the dependent areas, including the British Associated States, are rapidly moving toward independent status." Nearly all of these islands are economically underdeveloped by comparison to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Travel between islands, both lawful and unlawful, is easily 1 (a) The population estimates are necessarily rough. The 1970 Decennial Census for the Virgin Islands placed the total population at 62, 468, including permanent resident and temporary resident aliens. The accuracy of these figures has been widely disclaimed. The 100,000 figure is now claimed by many to be extremely conservative. (b) Permanent resident and H-2 and H-4 resident figures as of December were supplied by Mr. Lionel J. Castillo, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization Service, in response to a request by Representative Peter W. Rodino, Jr. (See Exhibit B, attached.) (c) The estimate of 4,000 illegal aliens is particularly difficult to substantiate. INS claims the number is "minimal." Others claim the figure may be as high as 10,000 individuals. The estimate contained herein strikes a compromise. (d) The 32 percent noncitizen figure is felt to be extremely high by comparison even to noncitizen concentrations of such States as Florida, Texas, and California. 2 The provisions of 8 U.S.C. 1152 establish immigration visa quotas for a foreign state at 20,000 per fiscal year, as opposed to immigration quotas for colonies or dependent areas of 600 immigrant visas per fiscal year. See Exhibit C, page 2, attached. accomplished by air and water. A substantial number of our most prominent native families have recent ancestral ties with "downislanders." The extraordinarily high percentage of noncitizens, geographical proximity to poverty stricken dependent and independent foreign jurisdictions, generous immigration quotas, racial and cultural similarities and ease of undetected travel have all contributed to the special immigration dilemma that currently exists in the Virgin Islands. The temporary resident alien has played an improtant role in the economic development of the United States Virgin Islands since the late 1950's. The presently flourishing tourism industry, the development of numerous light and heavy industries and vigorous road, home and other building programs which have transformed the Virgin Islands over the course of the past twenty years have been based to a significant extent upon the labor of temporary resident aliens. Conversely, many of the severe social, economic and political prolems with which our Territory is today faced are attributed to the presence in our Islands of a large number of temporary resident aliens.* Problems in dealing fairly and effectively with the immigration problems in the Virgin Islands have historically been compounded by woefully inept application, both federally and locally, of a national immigration policy which has never met the unique needs of our small and fragile island community. Immigration policies have been formulated with either short-sighted, unheeded or questionably motivated input from the Virgin Islands. Each attempted solution of local immigration problems has resulted in the development of new problems." I, therefore, view this opportunity to testify on S. 2252 as a significant departure from past practices. I view it as an important first step in the accomplishment of an attainable goal, which is to develop means by which necessary input from the Virgin Islands can be received, seriously considered, and acted upon by the Federal Government in order to accommodate the special needs of the Virgin Islands in this and future immigration legislation. II. PROJECTED IMPACTS OF ENACTMENT OF S. 2252 Enactment of S. 2252 in its present form would permit the virtually immediate change of immigration status of an estimeted 16,000 temporary and illegal alien residents of the Territory, representing 50 percent of the total number of noncitizens in the Territory and 16 percent of our total population. My Administration is opposed to the permanent continuation of the "H-2" program, which has created in the Territory a large group of persons who for humanitarian and practical reasons cannot be deported and who also for humanitarian reasons should not have to lead lives of uncertainty and exploitation. Any other course would not only be patently unfair to the persons concerned, but would violate the principles of freedom and democracy which underlie the system of government which the Virgin Islands share with the United States. Absorption remains, then, as the only alternative, but the means of absorption must not be permitted to devastate the unique economic, social and political conditions existing in our Islands. It is my carefully considered opinion that implementation of S. 2252, as written, particularly in view of its failure to differentiate between residents lawfully present and those who are in the Virgin Islands illegally, would run the serious and unacceptable risk of rending the delicate fabric of our Virgin Islands society. My reasons for this opinion are as follows: 1. Void in work force by sudden elimination of “H-2" worker Virtual overnight elimination of the temporary "H-2" work force, comprised of approximately 5,600 workers, most of whom are believed to have resided continuously in the Virgin Islands since before January 1, 1970, would necessitate enormous adjustments in our economy. The "H-2" work force is, due to special immigration regulations applied to the nonmigratory labor requirements of the Virgin Islands, "temporary" only in the sense that failure to obtain reemployment within 60 days •See Exhibit C, page 1, attached. See e.g., page 16 of Special Study of the Nonimmigrant Alien Labor Program of the Virgin Islands of the United States conducted by the Subcommittee on Immigration Citizenship and International Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, 94th Cong. (October 1975). Inquiries at the Alien Certification Office, Manpower Division, U.S. Department of Labor, indicate that no statistical records are available to determine the precise number of H-2 workers who would qualify under the minimum residence requirements of S. 2252. after a job termination subjects the "H-2" worker to deportation. He is otherwise permitted to remain permanently in the Virgin Islands." The "H-2" worker is presently an integral part of the Virgin Islands work force and is employed primarily in the service and construction industries. Sudden adjustment of status from "H-2" worker to permanent resident would result in unwillingness of many former "H-2" workers to continue in their present employments. Substantial migration of newly registered permanent residents and their families to the United States would also likely occur, as the Virgin Islands are frequently used as a stepping-stone to the mainland. The anticipated absence of available and willing workers to fill vacated jobs, particularly during a period of economic upsurge such as is currently being enjoyed in the Territory would predictably result in pressure upon federal and local agencies by politically influential Virgin Islands employers, as occurred in the 1960's, for immigration law and policy concessions to permit yet another influx of temporary workers to fill the void. History could repeat itself in this regard and we would be no closer to the solution of the Virgin Islands immigration problem than we are today." 2. Projected population increase; unbearable cost burden A substantial initial increase in the total population of the Territory, inevitably followed by a secondary increase as will be explained, would, in my view, occur upon enactment of S. 2252, effecting a commensurate substantial increase in demands for already overtaxed Virgin Islands Government services and further aggravating the existing overpopulation problem. The initial population increase would be effected as a result of anticipated entry into the Virgin Islands of spouses and children of former "H-2" workers as a natural result of the enhanced sense of security accompanying permanent resident status. Official INS statistics indicate the current presence of only 6,984 "H-4" spouses and minor children for the 5,636 "H-2" workers in the Virgin Islands. It appears unlikely, therefore, that the "H-2" worker has fully exercised his rights to bring into the Territory his spouse and all of his minor children," and extremely likely that the granting of permanent residence status will lead to a large influx of such individuals, in addition to unmarried sons and daughters, regardless of age, who are permitted second preference entry. The secondary, postponed, population increase would occur upon exercise by a sizable number of the approximately 12,600 permanent residents who would be added to the registry under S. 2252 of their rights to become naturalized citizens after a waiting period of five years. The Immigration and Nationality Act permits the lawful entry into the Territory not only of the spouse and dependent minor children of a naturalized citizen, but also of parents, brothers and sisters, and married and unmarried sons and daughters."1 Precise numerical estimates of these two separate impacts are difficult to make. However, the Officer in Charge of the Immigration and Naturalization Service for the Virgin Islands predicted on March 10, 1978, that enactment of S. 2252 would permit the entry into the Virgin Islands of up to 30,000 persons presently living downisland who are spouses and minor children of the "H-2 and H-4" residents of the Territory. This estimate does not include the secondary impact after naturalization which could be logically predicted to include an additional 10,000 individuals.13 12 The quality of life in the Territory is already severely threatened by a lack of controlled growth policies. Enactment of S. 2252, in the absence of amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act to curtail the effect of permanent resident status adjustment and naturalization upon population growth, would result in unacceptable aggravation of the existing severe overpopulation problem in the Virgin Islands. 'These special regulations were promulgated as a result of an interdepartmental memorandum agreement dated May 25, 1970, between the U.S. Departments of State, Justice and Labor. Requests for a copy of this memorandum have been refused. Former Virgin Islands Senator, Alexander A. Moorehead, Jr., in a position paper entitled "The Status of "Temporary Alien Workers,' A Plan for Action," (Sept. 10, 1976), stated that the continual existence of the temporary labor certification program "holds the real possibility of the entry of still another pool of alien labor when the economy revives, which will create anew the problem which we are now attempting to resolve." See Exhibit A, attached, for general discussion of Virgin Islands population trends. 10 See Exhibit D, attached, for discussion of alien status adjustment on population. "See 8 U.S.C. 1427(a) (establishing 5-year waiting period), and 8 U.S.C. 1152. 12 See footnote 10, supra. 13(a) See Exhibit E attached, which indicates that an average of 5 persons would be authorized to enter for each illegal Mexican now living in the United States. (b) See Exhibit F, attached, which specifies additional persons who may enter upon achievement of citizenship. Time does not permit detailed description of all the adverse fiscal effects which would occur as a result of the addition of 43,000 individuals to the Virgin Islands population. It should suffice to say that, in the absence of massive federal aid, this nearly fifty percent increase in the population of the Virgin Islands would cause a rapid deterioration in the quality of already strained governmental services.1 3. Encouragement of social unrest Perhaps the most tragic consequence of enactment of S. 2252, from the Virgin Islands viewpoint, would be its deleterious effect upon already uneasy human relationships in the Territory, particularly between the indigenous native population on the one hand and the resident, nonresident and illegal alien populations on the other. Competition for desirable jobs would almost certainly increase as the former "H-2" worker and former illegal alien sought to displace the native Virgin Islander in the job market. Increased fears by the indigenous population of political domination from without, due to the eventual naturalized citizenship of a sizable number of new permanent residents, have also been predicted.15 With regard to the illegal alien amnesty provisions of S. 2252, it should be observed that thousands of law-abiding nonimmigrant aliens have lived and worked in the Virgin Islands for as long as twenty years, patiently waiting their turn for status adjustment under the existing quota system. To suddenly grant permanent residency not only to these individuals but also to an estimated 4,000 aliens who have not, for whatever the reason, lived by the rules, would result in lasting resentment not only toward the forgiven illegal alien, but also toward the system which engineered his amnesty. I fear that the deep-seated resentments which are readily observable in the Virgin Islands, traceable in large part to a national immigration law and policy which is viewed as arbitrary and unfair, could lead to unfortunate consequences should the illegal alien suddenly be placed on a par with the law-abider.17 Finally, Section 4 of S. 2252 would permit illegal aliens who have escaped detection by the Immigration and Naturalization Service since January 1, 1977 to obtain five-year amnesty as temporary residents; yet commensurate amnesty would be denied to the several hundred "H-2" workers not qualifying for permanent residence under Section 2 of S. 2252 due to inadequate terms of continuous residence, even though their original admission was in accordance with the law. This would be patently unfair. 14(a) Detailed cost projections are anticipated from forthcoming recommendations of the Virgin Islands Immigration Policy Task Force, described on page 2 of this Statement. (b) The figure of 43,000 was derived by multiplying 5,635 (current H-2's) by 5 (see footnote 12, supra), and adding to that product the number of H-2 workers, plus the anticipated secondary increase. (c) Administrative and case law decisions have resulted in steadily increasing requirements that permanent residents lawfully admitted and temporary workers and their spouses and dependents be granted the same rights and protections as citizens. See, Hosier v. Evans, 8 V.I. 27 (1970), (rights of nonresident alien children to public education) and Larsen V. Rogers, et al, 411 Fed. Supp. 128 (1976) (inability to replace H-2 workers with citizens or permanent residents pursuant to local law). 15 An article by Jon Nordheimer in the New York Times of Feb. 15, 1978, discussed the recent, slow economic recovery of the Virgin Islands, but noted other problems. Mr. Nordheimer stated: "However, the Virgin Islands face another set of problems, not completely unrelated, that cannot be solved by Madison Avenue. It has to do with a number of trends that are threatening to overwhelm native Virgin Islanders an (sic) to remove them from their one remaining position of control: operation of the local government. "The most immediate threat, but not the only one, rests in the Carter Administration proposals to grant citizenship to illegal aliens who have settled in the United States. As was the case with other directives issued from Washington to settle mainland social issues, the move would have an exaggerated effect on the Virgin Islands because black West Indian aliens now represent the largest social grouping in the islands, outnumbering the indigenous population. "It could change the face of the electorate overnight" said Peter DeZela, former chief assistant to the late Cyril E. King, the Governor of the Virgin Islands, who died January 2. "There is considerable concern here how social tranquility can be preserved if one order from Washington can shift power from the native to a previously disenfranchised group that now is numerically superior," he said. 14 With respect to the precise number of aliens residing unlawfully within the Territory, given the ease in which unlawful entry without identification may be accomplished and claims that the number may exceed 8,000 (see Preliminary Remarks) and claims by the INS that the number is "minimal," it would appear that the only reasonably accurate determination would be derived by counting the applications for permanent or temporary residence upon enactment of S. 2252. The government of the Virgin Islands is willing to forego the luxury of an accurate count derived by this method. "See Exhibit C, attached, for a discussion of citizen attitudes toward temporary and illegal alien by the Supervisory U.S. Immigration Officer for St. Croix. |