Tried to end chain migration in 1996

Sen. Faircloth voted to end chain migration in 1996. He did that by voting for the Simpson Amendment to S.1664. For Americans who want to bring immigration back down toward traditional levels, that vote was the most important one cast since 1990. Total annual immigration had snowballed from less than 300,000 in 1965 to around a million primarily because of provisions allowing immigrants to send for their adult relatives. Then each of those relatives can send for their and their spouse's adult relatives, creating a never-ending and ever-growing chain. The bi-partisan Barbara Jordan Commission recommended doing away with the adult relative categories (begun only in the 1950s) in order to lessen wage depression among lower-paid American workers. Sen. Faircloth agreed with the Jordan Commission. He voted in favor of the which attempted to carry out that recommendation. But the Senate voted 80-20 to kill the reform, thus endorsing the chain migration which the Census Bureau projects will double the U.S. population again in the next century. Sen. Faircloth voted against that much-more congested future.

Voted to reduce chain migration in 1996

Sen. Faircloth voted in 1996 for the Feinstein Amendment to S.1664. The Feinstein Amendment would have reduced annual admission of spouses and minor children of citizens to 480,000 and significantly reduced annual limits other categories of chain migration such as parents of citizens, and adult unmarried children of citizens. By voting for the Feinstein Amendment, Sen. Faircloth voted in favor of reducing a chain migration system that has been the primary reason for annual immigration levels snowballing from less than 300,000 in 1965 to around a million today. In 1996 the bi-partisan Barbara Jordan Commission recommended doing away with the adult relative categories (begun only in the 1950s) in order to lessen wage depression among lower-paid American workers. The Feinstein Amendment attempted to carry out that recommendation. The Feinstein Amendment would have had an overall impact of reducing U.S. population growth by about 1.2 million over 10 years, but it was defeated by a vote of 26 to 74.

Cosponsored deep immigration reductions 1995-96
In the 104th Congress, Sen. Faircloth was one of only a handful of Senators who co-sponsored S.160 (the Shelby Bill). The bill would have cut legal immigration in all categories from about one million a year to around 325,000 a year. Senate leaders did not bring S.160 up for a vote.

Cosponsored deep immigration reductions in 1994
Sen. Faircloth cosponsored S.2448 (the Shelby Bill) in the 103rd Congress. It would have cut legal immigration in all categories from around one million to about 325,000 a year for a period of five years. Senate leaders did not bring this bill up for a vote.

Sen. Faircloth has taken no action to reduce
the importation of specific foreign workers.

Citizenship for Illegal Alien Babies top

Sen. Faircloth has taken no action to reduce
the rewarding of illegal immigration by giving citizenship
to anchor babies.

Inviting / Repelling Illegal Aliens top

Voted to grant amnesty to nearly one million illegal aliens from Nicaragua and Cuba in 1997

Sen. Faircloth voted to grant legal status to Nicaraguans and Cubans who had lived in the United States illegally since 1995, along with their spouses and minor unmarried children. The overall ten year impact of this legislation will be the addition of some 967,000 people to U.S. population. There was no separate vote on the amnesty, as it was included in the DC Appropriations bill. The only opportunity Senators had to vote in favor of or against the amnesty was the Mack Amendment to S.1156. The Mack Amendment passed 99-1.

Voted in 1996 for major law that cracked down on illegal aliens.

Sen. Faircloth was part of a 97-3 majority which passed S.1664. It was a large omnibus bill with dozens of provisions aimed at reducing illegal immigration. It authorized major increases in the border patrol forces. But it also had many provisions aimed at making life more miserable for illegal aliens who manage to get into the country, half of whom arrive with legal visas but then illegally overstay. Until passage of the bill, a person could be apprehended as an illegal alien, be deported and then turn around and come back to the U.S. on a legal student, tourist, worker or relative visa. After the bill, an illegal alien was barred from any kind of legal entry for 10 years.

Protected voluntary pilot programs for workplace verification in 1996

Sen. Faircloth voted AGAINST the Abraham Amendment to S.1664. his vote was one in favor of setting up voluntary pilot programs in high-immigration states that would assist employers in verifying whether people they had just hired had the legal right to work in this country. Such verification is considered by many experts to be an essential tool for withdrawing the job magnet from illegal aliens. The verification system established by S.1664 did not involve an ID card. Rather it provided that when new workers wrote down their Social Security number on an application, employers could phone into a national verification system to help assure that the number was a real number and belonged to the person giving it. In earlier smaller pilot programs, businesses had hailed the verification system for making it easier for them to avoid hiring illegal aliens. But a coalition of conservative pro-business Members and of liberal civil libertarians tried to kill the verification program as too intrusive into the private rights of businesses and workers. Opposing that coalition, Sen. Faircloth was part of a 54-46 majority that preserved the voluntary pilot programs.