INS Proposes Easing Rule on Illegal Aliens’ Absences

Under intense pressure from immigrant rights advocates, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has proposed extending the length of time an illegal alien seeking legal resident status could have spent outside the United States in the last five years.

The expansion of the allowable absences from the country will have the effect of permitting more immigrants--possibly a significant number--to qualify for legal status when the INS begins accepting applications May 5.

The more liberal provision is part of a package of proposed regulations to be made public this week. A draft copy of the new proposals was obtained Wednesday by The Times.

Jobless Compensation

Another new proposal would make those who had received unemployment compensation ineligible for legal status, probably cutting down the number of those who would qualify.

The public will have 30 days to comment once the proposals are published in the Federal Register. They are expected to become final in April.

Under the new proposal for allowable absences, those seeking legal status could have single absences from the United States of up to 45 days and a total of 180 days of absences since Jan. 1, 1982. Illegal immigrants seeking legal status must have lived in the United States continuously since before that date, except for those brief periods.

Previously, the INS had wanted a limit of no more than 30 days for a single absence and a total of 150 days since Jan. 1, 1982.

That proposal on absences drew strong criticism from a coalition of immigrant rights groups that had urged the INS to extend single absences to at least 90 days and increase the overall total, contending that pressing family matters force many illegal immigrants to leave the country periodically.

‘Split the Difference’

“What the INS did was split the difference,” said one congressional critic.

Besides offering legal status to illegal immigrants who have been in the country since 1982, the legislation, signed into law by President Reagan last Nov. 6, offers similar amnesty to farm workers who were employed at least 90 days during the year ending last May.

It also calls for fines ranging from $250 to $10,000 and possible jail terms for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Under the law, an illegal immigrant cannot qualify for legal status if he seems likely to become a public charge. Ways to determine this possibility include looking at employment history and whether he has received government assistance.

By including unemployment compensation in the definition of public cash assistance, the INS could disqualify huge numbers of immigrants seeking legal status, activists complained Wednesday when told of the new definition.

‘A Safety Net’

“It’s absurd,” said Linda Wong of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Traditionally, she said, immigration law does not count unemployment compensation as public assistance, reserving that category for welfare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Supplemental Security Income.

“Unemployment compensation is supposed to be a safety net for people who have lost their jobs,” she said, adding that a large number of illegal immigrants have collected unemployment checks.

In its draft, INS said: “The weight given in considering applicability of the public charge provisions will depend on many factors, but the length of time an applicant has received public cash assistance will constitute a significant factor.”

Under the new proposals, the INS will allow immigrants seeking legal status to submit copies of certain documents to prove their residency during the applicable periods. The first proposal called for originals only, but rights groups protested that many people would not be able to get originals.

The INS also removed a requirement that anyone corroborating an immigrant’s identity must have known him for two years.