(7 Feb 1995) English/Nat
President Clinton is stepping up the drive to show he's serious about illegal immigration.
Today (Tuesday) he signed an executive order telling federal agencies to give priority to a crackdown on illegals.
President Clinton signed an executive order today (Feb 7) telling federal agencies to give priority to the crackdown on illegal immigration.
At a briefing, Clinton stressed his administration's commitment to the fight against illegals.
SOUNDBITE:
We are a nation of immigrants and we should all be proud of it. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws that we have seen in recent years. There is too much of it and we must do much more to stop it.
SUPER CAPTION: President Bill Clinton
The immigration initiative unveiled Monday (Feb 6) in Clinton's 1996 budget would add one (b) billion dollars in new spending to beef up the Border Patrol and Immigration and Naturalization Service, speed up deportations and provide more money for border states.
The President also instructed Attorney General Janet Reno to maximize use of effective Border Patrol strategies, including use of helicopters, night scopes and all-terrain vehicles.
Immigration activists expressed disappointment with the President's speech. Moises Perez of the Alliance Americana in New York said he had hoped that Clinton would extol the benefits of immigrants in the US.
SOUNDBITE:
"There will be some reaction opposing these measures, really repressive measures, you know, increasing the number of deportations and what have you. And we always feel that when things of this nature, problems of this nature are taken up and solutions are put forward to you know, speed up the process, that peoples' rights are violated in the process."
SUPER CAPTION: Moises Perez
Executive director, Alliance Americana
This American citizen however says his country should turn its back on immigrants who work hard to make it what it is.
SOUNDBITE: In Spanish
"Mi opinion en torno a eso es que eso no se ajusta a la realidad de la propia existencia de los EE UU puesto que este es un pais de inmigrantes, es un pais donde los inmigrantes hemos venido a aportar nuestro esfuerzo, nuestro trabajo y nuestra colaboracion con esta gran nacion".
(Translation: "My opinion in this respect is that it doesn't match up to the reality of the very existence of the United States, as this is a country of immigrants, a country where, as immigrants, we have contributed our effort, our labour and our cooperation with this great nation".)
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop
This seminar for new immigrants helps them come to grips with their new life.
This woman says immigrants only take up the jobs citizens don't want.
SOUNDBITE:
They work on their work places where Americans don't want to work
SUPER CAPTION: Luda, Russian immigrant.
However Clinton has urged the Republican-dominated Congress to implement his plan.
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