Terrorism in Boston will force the US to backtrack on immigration.
"Given the events of this week, it's important that we understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system," said Senator Charles Grassley, who has previously opposed attempts to reform the rules for the presence of foreigners in the U.S.; recently, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, created a foundation to facilitate the entry of foreigners into universities such as Harvard and MIT.
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) The controversy surrounding immigration reform in the United States intensified on Friday with the revelation that the two suspects in this week's Boston Marathon bombing were of Chechen origin.
"Given the events of this week, it's important that we understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system," said Senator Charles Grassley, who has previously opposed attempts to reform the rules for the presence of foreigners in the U.S.
He spoke at the start of a parliamentary hearing on the bill released this week that would establish a path to legalization for some 11 million undocumented immigrants.
While the hearing was taking place, much of the Boston metropolitan area was paralyzed by the police manhunt for 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, identified as one of those responsible for the attack that killed three people and injured 176 on Monday. His older brother, also suspected of involvement, was killed overnight in a shootout with police.
The two brothers grew up in Dagestan (Russia), in a family of Chechen origin, and moved to the US in the last decade. US authorities said the two suspects were in the US legally.
"How can we strengthen security controls over people entering the United States? How do we ensure that people who wish to harm us are ineligible for benefits under immigration laws, including this new bill before us?" said Grassley, the Republican leader on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
After the hearing, the committee chairman, Democrat Patrick Leahy, said it would be wrong to allow an isolated incident to derail the bill's progress, which the ruling party hopes to pass in the Senate in June.
Referring to previous attacks in the US, Leahy told reporters: "If we change the policies of this country every time something happens, whether it's Oklahoma City, 9/11 or this, we'll never get anything done. We should think about what the best policies are for the United States, and use them."
During the Senate hearing, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, a leading advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, said: "I would ask that we all refrain from jumping to conclusions about the facts in Boston, nor attempt to equate those facts with this legislation."
"In general," Schumer added, "we are a safer country when the authorities know who is here, have their fingerprints, photos, etc., and have background checks."