INS Eases Migrant Labor Rule : Will Admit Farm Workers Without Proof of Status

The Immigration and Naturalization Service, in another concession to farmers, said today that it will allow migrant farm laborers into the United States upon their word that they worked in past harvests.

The INS had previously insisted that laborers have documents to prove that they had harvested perishable crops here. But under pressure from farm groups and lawmakers from the West and South, the agency modified its rules.

“We’re saying, OK, you don’t have to have full documentation but be able to say, ‘I worked 90 days for the following growers,’ ” INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson said. He said workers will have to be “relatively specific as to where they worked and how long.”

Beginning Wednesday, illegal aliens seeking Special Agricultural Worker status will fill out an application at a consulate or INS border processing center, pay their $185 fee, and state whom they worked for in past harvests and where.

Based on that, the workers will be given a 90-day temporary work authorization card and allowed to enter the country. Once here, they must collect the documents and turn them over to the INS before the 90 days expire.

“Obviously what we want to do is get qualified people in as quickly as possible,” Nelson said.

Growers have complained that confusion over new immigration reforms has kept migrant workers home and as a result of the labor shortage, their crops are rotting in the fields.

Last week, the INS agreed to let migrant workers who entered the United States before June 26 apply for special status at an immigration office here, rather than go back to Mexico to apply.

Special Agricultural Worker status is one of the provisions of immigration reforms approved by Congress last fall. It allows migrant workers to apply for temporary legal status if they were in this country between May, 1985, and May, 1986, and can prove they worked in the perishable crop industry for at least 90 days.

Nelson made it clear that he does not believe that growers have done their share to get geared up for the new immigration laws. He said he found it “incredible” that no growers in the West had applied for a guest-worker program, which involves setting up housing for foreign workers.

As to growers’ complaints about a severe labor shortage, he said, “There’s been some panic, which may or may not be based on reality, and some hype.” But he added, “None of us wants a problem with rotting crops or a shortage of labor.”