Mayor Backs Halt on Deporting Refugees From Central America

Mayor Tom Bradley said Monday that he supports a two-year moratorium on deporting Central American refugees to give them time to prove their claims that they are fleeing political persecution and not just trying to improve their economic lot as the Reagan Administration contends.

Bradley, joined by New Mexico Gov. Toney Anaya, spoke at a press conference kicking off a two-day hearing to explore problems created by an unprecedented influx of Central Americans to Los Angeles since 1980. He said the vast majority of refugees who apply for asylum are sent back to Central America, because the United States does not recognize them as political refugees.

The Bradley-organized hearing featured a surprise appearance by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who told the gathering of academics, labor, clerical and political leaders that last week’s House approval of $100 million in aid to Nicaraguan rebels would be better spent helping the poverty-stricken war refugees who are spilling into Los Angeles and other U.S. cities.

“Those now leaving Central America are the new huddled masses,” Jackson said.

As the Statue of Liberty celebration approaches Friday, he said, “we must have room in our hearts and our minds” for refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Government officials believe that about 350,000 Central Americans live in Los Angeles, including the largest population of Salvadorans outside that country.

Bradley said it must be determined whether those who have sought asylum are fleeing potential persecution in their homelands. The 1980 U.S. Refugee Act promises safe harbor to those who believe that they risk persecution from their government.

He said only 2.5% of Central Americans are granted refugee status, while 32% of those who apply from communist countries, such as Poland and the Soviet Union, are granted refugee status.

“What produces this disparity that we find?” Bradley asked.

The mayor insisted that the two-day hearing was not a political maneuver.

“I do not expect this to be a matter of bashing the government, whether it be the (Immigration and Naturalization Service) or the Reagan Administration,” he said. “I have no desire to make this a political forum.”

Economic Impact

Throughout the hearing Monday, government and labor officials testified that Central Americans are not hurting the U.S. economy, although their numbers here are increasing rapidly.

New Mexico’s Anaya, whose entire state has declared itself a sanctuary for Central American refugees, said several well-documented studies, including one by the Rand Corp., have “dispelled the myth that these individuals take more from our society than they give.”

He said another study found that fewer than 1% of illegal aliens, including Central Americans, have ever applied for food stamps or other welfare benefits in the United States.

William Robertson, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said that while some illegal aliens compete for jobs that U.S. citizens want, they also “are willing to take the less desirable, low-paying, dead-end kinds of menial labor jobs, thus supplying employers in such industries with needed help.”

Reforms Sought

Robertson said his organization is pressing for reforms that would legalize illegal aliens who are contributing members of the community but would impose sanctions on employers who hire those who remain undocumented. He called on Los Angeles residents and businesses to “do everything we can to improve the economic status of our new residents.”

Several participants at the hearing joined a noon gathering at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church, a few blocks from City Hall, where members rededicated the church as a sanctuary for Central American refugees. Last December, it became the first Catholic church in Los Angeles to declare itself a sanctuary.

Bradley, after a period of neutrality, last December spoke out in favor of the sanctuary movement.