Date: 1981-05-12
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. today I introduced in the House of Representatives H.R. 3517 entitled "The Nonimmigrant. Allen Adjustment Act of 1981." The problems addressed in this legislation have been the subject of a long series of studies. hearings. administrative rulings. statutes. and judicial determinations. By all these means. the Federal Government has tried over decades to resolve frustrating questions of immigration policy specifically affecting the U.S. Virgin Islands. H.R 3517 is concerned primarily with several thousands of aliens living legally under the flag of the United States. In the U.S. Virgin Islands. nearly all of them having come originally from the British. French. and Dutch Islands of the Caribbean. These people have lived in the Virgin Islands for as many as 20 years without ever attaining the security of permanent resident status. After all these years as contributing participants in the life and development of the U.S. Virgin Islands. they remain in a legal limbo that could. for reasons totally beyond their control cause their rights of domicile to be restricted or abrogated as easily as If they had Just been recruited for a shortterm Job as migrant farm laborers harvesting a fastripenIng crop. This is not a problem that will attract national headlines nor will it Inspire noisy demonstrations on the steps of the Capitol. No menmber will be beseiged by constituents crying out for the adjustment. of the status of these nonimmigrant aliens. We should be aware. nevertheless. that there Is a very real and fundamental importance in this legislation as to how our country is perceived in the world. especially so in the Island nations that ie on our southern sea frontier. We have at hand the opportunity to demonstrate our regard for the human rights of those who. adhering to our rules and our laws and. at times. In response to our open invitation. have come to live and work among us and who now choose to make this their permanent home. We also. have the opportunity to take active cognizance of the significance of the interrelationships between the U.S. territories in the Caribbean and the other peopfles of this critical region.* H.R. 3517 expresses Its objectives in the required language of Immigration law. referring to such necessary -verbal abstractions as "the nonimnmigrant alien worker under section 101a)15(H(I)"and a "fourth or fifth preference petition." Permit me. Instead. to tell you briefly in plain words what this bill is about. Before the United States bought what are now the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark In 1917. there had existed for centuries a mostly unrestricted flow of residents between the Islands under the jurisdiction of the var. ious European colonial powers. This was especially -true of the people of the former Danish West Indies and the nearby British Virgin Islands. There was hardly a U.S. Virgin Islander without close famil y relations on other Islands of the eastern Caribbean. The U.S. Government at first paid little attention to these comings and goings -between the Island groups. With the beginning of World War.II. military construction In the U.S. Islands to help fight the battle of the Atlantic suddenly required thie active recruitment of many workers from the other jurisdictions. especially nfter the enlistment Into the U.S. Army of hundreds of U.S. Virgin Islanders for service overseas. Some of the new workers were brought in under one or another legal device improvised by the U.S. authorities. Others came without formal legal sanction and were employeduntil they were no longer needed for the war effort. at which time many were rounded up and deported. A similar situation emerged again In the years between 1950 and 1970. when migration to the U.S. islands was encouraged. this time not for defense projects but for the rapidly expanding tourist industry financed by mainland investors and for other related economic .developments. The principal legal vehicle for this influx was a liberal administrative interpretation -in 1956 of the terms "temporary services and labor" In the Immigration and Nationality- Act of 1952. Further complications arose with the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965. These latter amendments had the effect of Increasing the influx of foreign temporary workers and somewhat paradoxically. at the same time preventing most of those workers from attaining permanent resident status. even 20 or more years later. And that is where we find ourselves today.. Admittedly. what I have offered Is an oversimplification. For an excellent analysis of the subject I have tried. to condense. I refer you to a 1975 study of the Subcommittee on Immigration. Citizenship. and International Law of the House Committee on the Judiciary. The subcommittees opening words are still valid: The Virgin. Islands of the United States Is experiencing the most complex immigration problems facing the United States. Most of the problems are peculiar to the Virgin Islands and have stemmed from a U.S. immigra~tion policy that has failed--to recognize that the Virgin Islands are unique from the. rest of the United States In terms of history. geography. economy and social structure. What the subcommittee said then continues to be true today. In the years. since the 1975 study. there has been a lively dialog in the VirginIslands about how these complexities could be untangled while protecting the interests of the citizens in the Islands. the alien workers. and the Nation as a whole. H.R. 3517 was submitted in draft form to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands by Governor Juan Luis as a Joint proposal by. the Governor and the Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress.-In his letter to the legislature dated March 20. 1981. the Governor stated:. It is Important to keep in mind in contemplating the provisions of the joint proposal that It is designed to provide a humane solution to te plight of several thousand nonImmigrant workers and their families who have resided In the Virgin Islands for as many as twenty years as victims of the restrictive quota system of the Immigration and Nationality. Act which has prevented their attaining permanent residence status. The joint proposal is. at the same -time. designed to provide as many safeguards as possible against not only Immediate adverse population Impacts of status adjustment on the delicate Infrastructure of the Virgin Islands. but against secondary adverse population Impacts when permanent residents earn the right to apply for United States citizenship. The Virgin Islands Legislature has responded by formally endorsing H.R. 3517 In an unanimous vote of 9 to 0. on April 29. 1981. This action followed a series of public. hearings at which the witnesses on All three principal islands of the territory overwhelmingly supported this bill. H.R. 3517 has also been formally endorsed by the alien interest movement. the leading organization of noncitizens living in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the advisory council of the alien emphasis program. The following are the principal features of H.R. 3517: First. Most H2 (temporary) workers.. their H4 spouses and their minor children who have lived in the Virgin Islands at least nince June 1975 could apply for permanent resident status during a limited 1year period following the enactment of the legislation. Second. Those granted permanent resident status under the program could petition for the admission of their spouses and unmarried sons and daughters. To protect against any unforeseen flood of such admissions. provision Is made for the Secretary of *State. In consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Governor of the Virgin Islands. to limit thei number of such second preference admissions in any fiscal year. Third. A second wave of relatives of those admitted under the program. married *sons and daughters and brothers and sisters would not- be permitted to immigrate to the islands under fourth and fifth preference status. Fourth. The present H2 temporary worker program would be terminated. Fifth. An Interagency task force on Virgin Islands immigration would be established. Its members would include the Governor of the Virgin Islands. the chief Judge of the territorial court. the president of the legislature. the Secretary of Health and Human Services. the Secretary of Education. the Secretary of Housing and Urban Developmen~t. the Secretary of Labor. the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney General. The task force would assess the needs created In the Islands by this program in the areas of health. education. housing and other social services In order to determine what Federal assistance might be needed to cope with these impacts. I feel very deeply. Mr. Speaker. that 1H.R. 3517 represents the wishes of a majority of the people of. the U.S. Virgin Islands. I believe sincerely. after much review and consultation that this bill takes into account and affords the necessary protections for the interests of the present residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands. as well as the national interest of the United States. Mr. Speaker. I am proud to have the privilege of bringing this bill before the House of Representatives. What we have proposed Is right. It Is humane. and it Is honorable. This program Is rational. it Is cautious. and It Is sound. I ask all Members to join me In supporting this Important legislation.