Mahony to Establish 20 Alien Amnesty Centers

In an effort to help members of the predominantly Latino Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese affected by the new landmark immigration reform law, Archbishop Roger Mahony plans to set up as many as 20 centers to help illegal immigrants apply for amnesty under the measure, according to archdiocesan officials.

In a written statement released over the weekend, Mahony expressed “support for the overall effect of the new law” that offers legal status to “that large ‘shadow society’ of people who have lived among us for many years but without the benefit of fully participating in the American community.”

Mahony expressed concern, however, that some provisions of the measure, enacted Friday after many years of negotiations, would result in prolonged separations between some workers and their families. He also urged businessmen not to “panic” over the law’s sanctions against employers, who face fines and even jail terms if they knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Noting the potential for discrimination against workers who “look or sound ‘foreign,’ ” Mahony urged employers to not allow their hiring practices “to be influenced by panic over the possibility of penalties in the future.”

Mahony also noted that provisions in the law may result in delays of up to eight years for agricultural workers to have their families join them in this country and said that this runs counter to the church’s goal of family unity. The archbishop, a longtime champion of minority rights, said he plans to work with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to speed up this process.

The archdiocese, which has offered immigration counseling to immigrants and refugees at a downtown service center for about three decades, plans to open more than a dozen such centers throughout its five pastoral regions in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, the Rev. Joseph Battaglia, an archdiocese spokesman, said Sunday.

The centers will help immigrants determine their eligibility under various sections of the new law and guide them through the INS application process, Battaglia said. He added that the archdiocese hopes in this way to help the historically understaffed immigration agency implement the amnesty provisions of the law, which will take effect May 1.

“We will cooperate as much as possible with INS to help them help these people,” Battaglia said.

INS officials have announced plans to open 13 legalization offices in Los Angeles County to handle applications from as many as 1 million illegal immigrants who may qualify for amnesty. To qualify, immigrants must prove that they have lived in this country continuously since at least 1982.