Leniency Is Urged in Carrying Out Amnesty Law

The men walked down from the nearby fields, headed for the flickering lights of the candles. The men, all farm workers, all Mexican born, all illegal aliens, came to hear about this thing called amnistia-- amnesty.

“I would guess that 90 to 95% of these men won’t even qualify for amnesty under the rules,” said Ozzie I. Venzor, who heads a North County group called Friends of the Undocumented.

On the evening before the beginning of the one-year application period for amnesty under the new immigration law, about 75 people gathered along El Camino Real and held a candlelight vigil in support of San Diego County’s large population of illegal alien workers.

Request to INS

Specifically, Venzor and other participants, including several church representatives, called on the U.S. Immigration and Natural Service to be “more reasonable, understanding and compassionate toward the undocumented” in interpreting the new immigration law.

Under the amnesty program, applicants will be required to show concrete documentation--such as written receipts and paycheck stubs--to demonstrate their presence in the United States.

The new law raises the possibility of legal status for illegal aliens who have lived in the United States since 1982, or for undocumented farm workers who completed at least 90 days of agricultural work in the United States during the year that ended May 1, 1986.

However, many of the two dozen illegal aliens who gathered Tuesday evening said they had no such documentation. Most said they live in makeshift dwellings of cardboard and plastic near farms in North County. Guided by the candlelight, they walked to the vigil from their crude dwellings.

Lacks Documentation

“I never kept pay stubs or anything like that,” said Juan Gutierrez, 38, a farm worker and father of five from the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Gutierrez, who said he had been living in the United States for two years, would appear to qualify for amnesty because of his occupation. But, like others interviewed, Gutierrez says he has no proof of his time in the United States.

“I’ve come to this country to take care of my family, not for the fun of it,” Gutierrez said as he held a lit candle during the vigil. “To be legal would make my life so much easier.”

Experts say Gutierrez’s predicament is not unique. Throughout the nation, they say, illegal aliens who would ostensibly qualify for amnesty are stymied by a lack of documentation.

The INS has maintained that the amnesty program is “generous.” But speakers at the vigil condemned the amnesty regulations as “callous” and urged officials to loosen them.