2 Amnesty Offices May Stay Open Later to Handle Workers

The two U.S. immigration legalization offices in the county may stay open later in the evening to encourage more aliens to apply for amnesty, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials said Thursday.

Robert Coffman, who heads the legalization office in Serra Mesa, and Hoot Chandler, head of the Escondido office, said they are thinking of adjusting the office hours to accommodate the large number of applicants who apparently are visiting the offices at the end of their work day.

“The 4:30 p.m. closing time seems to be a little unreasonable,” Coffman said. “We’re pretty empty in the morning and get a good rush in the afternoon. My feeling is that the office will probably have to remain open later in the day.”

Chandler agreed that extended hours are probably necessary to encourage more aliens to apply for the amnesty program.

“We’re thinking along the same lines,” Chandler said. “The hours of operation are dictated by the traffic of applicants. We will have to adjust our schedule to meet the traffic.”

Rush at End of Day

Coffman said he became convinced of the need for maintaining extended office hours after visiting one of six independent legalization offices in San Diego County.

“We had noticed the rush of applicants in the afternoon. And the people at this (independent) office told me that most of their applicants have come in late in the day,” Coffman said.

The number of applicants visiting the county’s legalization centers continued at a slow pace Thursday. The INS legalization office in Serra Mesa interviewed 21 applicants and handed out 223 application forms, Coffman said. In Escondido, the INS legalization office interviewed only two applicants. During the first three days of the amnesty program, the Escondido office has given out about 800 amnesty applications, Chandler said.

Meanwhile, the independent offices were also reporting a slow trickle of applicants. Ozzie Pecus, head of the immigration counseling office at ACCESS, said his office is averaging about 50 walk-ins and 100 calls daily. The ACCESS offices are in Linda Vista.

Carlotta Parker, immigration counselor at North County Centro Inc. in Escondido, said she is counseling six applicants daily and is booked until May 23.

Six Clients in a Day

“I’m the only one doing it in the office and six interviews a day is about all I can handle,” said Parker. “You have to explain to them what they need to qualify for amnesty, why and how necessary it is to tell the truth because the INS will check everything. I also have to calm their fears that this isn’t a a ploy by the INS to pick them up. It’s not easy.”

Natalie Henson, legal coordinator at the Center for Employment Training in San Diego, said that her office began counseling applicants Thursday evening. The evening orientations will begin at 6 p.m., she said.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of phone calls. Most callers want to know if the amnesty program is legitimate,” said Henson, echoing Parker’s comments.