INS Relaxes Immigrant Trip Rule : Brief Return to Country of Origin Won’t Bar Legal Status

The Immigration and Naturalization Service, responding to concerns from rights activists, announced Thursday that it has changed its rules to allow illegal immigrants to qualify for legal resident status, even if they had left the country briefly after the new immigration law went into effect.

INS had said that anyone seeking legal status must prove that he has been “continuously physically present” in this country since President Reagan signed the legislation into law on Nov. 6, 1986. But immigrant rights activists complained that many people routinely have returned briefly to their countries of origin for emergencies, not knowing that they were jeopardizing their chances for legal status.

“In light of the comments received,” the new rules say, “INS has reevaluated and reconsidered its position,” adding, “Absences that are brief, casual and innocent will not break the physical presence requirement.”

‘Some Didn’t Know’

The change by INS reflects a “recognition that there might have been some people who didn’t know” they should not have left the United States after last Nov. 6, INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson told a news conference. He added that, under the new rule, only those who leave after today will be denied legal status for breaking the continuous residency requirement.

It is not known how many people are affected by the rule, but the activists said that thousands probably are.

Nelson also announced that employers will be given until Sept. 1, 1987, to certify the legal status of all employees--including U.S. citizens--hired since last Nov. 6. Only those still working after June 1 must be certified.

A retroactive certification requirement for employee recruiters and referral agencies was removed. They now must certify the legal status only of those who actually are hired.

Applications Taken Tuesday

The new rules, including one allowing certified copies of required identification documents, are part of the government’s final regulations to implement the immigration law, under which millions of people will begin seeking legal status Tuesday. People who have lived in the United States illegally since before Jan. 1, 1982, except for brief absences, are eligible to apply.

INS announced a toll-free, 24-hour telephone information line--800-777-7700--which began operating Thursday night. Information on legalization, employer sanctions and the government’s Special Agricultural Workers provisions will be available through that number.

Despite the rule changes, the INS encountered more harsh criticism.

Linda Wong of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund commended INS for easing the rule on brief absences but said that many other “overwhelming concerns,” including whether families will be broken up when some members fail to qualify for legal status, still will discourage many people from applying.

‘Business as Usual’

Harry Pachon, executive director of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, called the INS action “a sham. It’s business as usual.”

And at a House Budget Committee hearing, several congressmen accused the Reagan Administration of refusing to fund the INS adequately.

Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento) said that Administration officials must take responsibility for “the fiasco that’s about to occur on their watch.”

At the INS news conference, Nelson rejected the “shrill voices who say we are not ready and cannot handle the task we have been given.” He denied charges that dozens of the 107 INS offices nationwide are without equipment, castigated the “gloomers and doomers” and said: “Let’s wait and see. We think we’ll be ready.”

In addition to proving identity and residency, applicants must prove financial responsibility. The regulations say that “generally, the evidence of employment” will demonstrate a person’s financial responsibility. But if there are “significant gaps in employment, or if there is reason to believe” that a person received public assistance while employed, he may be required to prove that he did not receive public cash assistance.

Cash Assistance Criteria

People who are deemed likely to become a “public charge” will not be granted legal status and receipt of public cash assistance is one of the criteria the INS uses to gauge that probability. Responding to protests, INS in its final rules removed Medicaid from the list of public cash assistance.

But the agency refused to budge on several other points, including application fees of $185 per person and $420 for a family with dependent children. The fees, said Nelson, are “right, fair and meet the terms of the statute.”