Church to Aid Amnesty Effort

The Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese announced the locations Wednesday of 20 centers it will establish to help an estimated 250,000 illegal aliens seek amnesty under the new immigration reform law.

These processing centers will begin registering potential applicants for legal residency on Monday. The archdiocese has also designated 40 parishes across its three-county territory as registration centers and has established an “advocacy component” to provide referral services or legal assistance to aliens whose eligibility for amnesty is in question.

“We feel that the Catholic Church, with so many of these (illegal immigrants) as its members, enjoys their immediate trust and respect, and we expect they will come to us for help,” Archbishop Roger Mahony said at a press conference at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral. He said that in the month since the law’s enactment, the archdiocese has been contacted by more than 10,000 aliens seeking assistance.

Mahony, a long-time champion of Latino causes who has focused much attention on the archdiocese’s large Latino membership since taking his post more than a year ago, added, “The archdiocese takes seriously its responsibility to serve people’s needs under this law, which will effect profound changes in the lives of (the archdiocese’s) members.”

The new law grants legal status, or amnesty, to aliens who can prove they have lived continuously in the United States since before Jan. 1, 1982.

Assistant Sought

Although the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service will make the determination on amnesty applications, the agency has sought the assistance of church and other nonprofit groups in processing applicants.

As the most populous and heavily Latino archdiocese in the United States, the Los Angeles archdiocese has taken a leading role in a national effort by the Catholic Church to help aliens become legal residents.

About 60 long-established church immigration offices across the nation will play key roles in the church’s legalization effort, according to Gilbert P. Carrasco, associate director for Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Catholic Conference, which is coordinating the national campaign. New centers will be established by some parishes and church service agencies specifically to process amnesty applications, he said.

Carrasco predicted that perhaps 65% of legalization applications will be processed through church-operated centers.

In Los Angeles, the church’s legalization program, administered by Catholic Charities, will be headquartered at the St. Vibiana Cathedral complex at the corner of Main and 2nd streets. It will coordinate the registration process, which organizers hope will provide a more accurate assessment of the numbers expected to file for legalization.

Registration and processing centers will initially provide potential applicants with registration cards and will set appointments to begin the process that could lead to legal residency, said Elizabeth Kirsnis, director of Los Angeles Catholic Charities’ immigration and citizenship division.

Eligibility Evidence

According to Kirsnis, should an alien be apprehended by immigration agents in the interim, immigration authorities have agreed to honor the registration cards as evidence of eligibility and release the alien.

During the initial screening process, complicated cases that appear at risk of being denied by the immigration service will be referred to private attorneys identified with the assistance of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., Kirsnis said. The applicant would be liable for the attorney’s fees.

By February, church officials expect to begin actually processing applications. When the immigration service begins accepting applications next May, the church program will begin filing applications on behalf of prescreened candidates it has deemed eligible.

If an application filed with the immigration service through the church agency is denied, Kirsnis said, the agency’s accredited immigration consultants may appeal the case or refer the applicant to a private attorney. IMMIGRATION PROCESSING CENTERS To help undocumented aliens register and seek eventual legalization under the new immigration law, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles designated these processing centers. Only two--the Cathedral of St. Vibiana and Catholic Charities, both downtown--are open now. Those listed here will be open Monday. Another 40 registration sites will open later at parishes.

Holy Cross, Los Angeles

St. Anne’s Church, Santa Monica

Holy Family, Wilmington

Catholic Charities, Long Beach

Catholic Charities, Hawthorne

St. Gertrude, Bell Gardens

Holy Family, Glendale

Guadalupe Center, Canoga Park

Santa Rosa Center, San Fernando

San Gabriel Mission, San Gabriel

Our Lady of Victory, Los Angeles

Our Lady of Lourdes, Los Angeles

Brownson House, Los Angeles

Assumption-Sacred Heart, Pomona

Catholic Charities, Santa Barbara

Catholic Charities, Moorpark

Catholic Charities, Oxnard

Catholic Social Services, Santa Maria