March 28, 1999

Letter to the Editor

Re:“Maybe she should resign”

Dear Editor:

Rep. Lamar Smith’s (R-San Antonio) March 28 response to INS Commissioner Doris Meissner’s editorial on the 1996 law (“1996 Immigration law overreached,” March 22) was perplexing– apparently Mr. Smith does not recognize the law he himself crafted in 1996.

It was Congress, not Ms. Meissner that enacted a law that requires the INS to indiscriminately round up and deport immigrants who committed even minor offenses—past or present.It was Congress that failed to take into account that, as a result of this law, U.S. families, businesses and communities would be hopelessly torn apart.

As Ms. Meissner correctly pointed out, persons who have committed and paid the price for minor offenses years before the law’s enactment—and who have since led model, productive lives—are being captured by the law’s sweeping scope. What more evidence does Congress need that the 1996 immigration law went too far?

I relive the nightmare of this law every time I am confronted with the prospect of my husband being swept up in this immigration dragnet simply because he was not born in America. The 1996 immigration law and Mr. Smith’s relentless attacks on immigrants do not reflect America—a nation of fairness and justice.

Mr. Smith’s should take steps to amend the 1996 law in a way that would preserve the stability of American families and businesses. Rather than attack an agency that is simply trying to enforce an ill-conceived law, Mr. Smith should exercise compassion and common sense and work to change the law.

Respectfully,

Laurie Kozuba
Mequite, TX

38ME9034