Thread: DNA Test of Immigrants Sought

DNA Test of Immigrants Sought

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/immi ... 41424.html

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DNA Test of Immigrants Sought

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 6:11 PM

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WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo wants foreigners seeking visas to join relatives in the U.S. to provide DNA samples to prove their family ties.


The Colorado congressman introduced a bill Tuesday in the House to require the tests, saying documents provided by immigrants to show they are related to U.S. citizens or permanent residents are sometimes sketchy and unreliable.


"This will help protect the integrity of our immigration system," said Tancredo, who has based his presidential campaign on curbing immigration. "It will give us one more tool to make sure that the beneficiaries of these visas are who they say they are."


Immigrants would pay for the DNA costs through visa application fees under the proposal.


Earlier this month, France's Senate passed an immigration bill that would allow consular officers to request DNA samples from immigrants wanting to join families there.


The U.S. allows spouses, children, parents and siblings of U.S. citizens and spouses and children of permanent residents to apply for visas and green cards to join their relatives in the United States.


Family-based immigration was a hotly contested issue in this year's immigration debate in Congress. A Senate immigration bill that failed to win passage would have limited family-based visas and increased visas granted based on education and work skills.


Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz, an author of a U.S. Senate bill who supports stricter immigration controls, was not ready to endorse Tancredo's bill.


"I was not aware there was a big question whether the chain migration of relatives was potentially bringing in people who are not related," Kyl said. "If this is a big problem, obviously we would want to look at it and understand it, but I don't know this solution proposed by Tom Tancredo would be the right solution."


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