The World - News from Jan. 1, 1987

Canadian officials said the new U.S. immigration law may be responsible for the sudden influx into Canada of Central and South American aliens seeking refugee status. The law, which became effective nearly two months ago, provides amnesty for aliens living in the United States illegally before 1982. Len Westerberg, a spokesman for the Canadian Immigration Ministry, said in an interview that aliens who arrived in the United States after 1982 may be looking to Canada as an alternative home. Other immigration officials have suggested that U.S. groups helping Latin American emigres may now be sending them to Canada rather than the United States.