An ‘Oversight’ : Alien With Amnesty Card Held at Border

U.S. authorities acknowledged Thursday that a man who recently received temporary legal status under the new immigration law was wrongfully detained at the U.S.-Mexico border last week because agents were unfamiliar with the newly issued documentation.

However, officials described the incident as an isolated one that should not be repeated.

“It was just an oversight on our part,” said Cliff Rogers, deputy district director for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Diego. “They (the agents) should have been aware of the procedures beforehand, and the procedures have been reiterated. . . . No real harm was done.”

The man, whose name was not available but who is a resident of San Diego County, was eventually allowed to enter the United States and remain here legally.

Immigrant advocate groups here have charged that some immigration agents here are occasionally ignorant of the documentation issued to successful applicants under the so-called amnesty provisions of the new law--an assertion denied by INS officials. Such a lack of knowledge can cause obvious legal problems for undocumented immigrants attempting to convince authorities that they have secured temporary legal residence.

Clearly Befuddled

In the case last week, some immigration inspectors at the port of entry at Otay Mesa were clearly befuddled. Apparently, they feared that the document shown by the man was a fake.

“The officers on the line see a variety of fraudulent documents, and this wasn’t one they were quite ready for,” said Robert L. Coffman, administrator of the INS legalization office in San Diego.

INS officials began issuing the documents in question last month. The documents, known as an “I-688,” are being issued to undocumented immigrants whose applications for temporary residences have received final approval from the INS. Under terms of the immigration law, the recipients have 18 months after receiving the temporary card to apply for a permanent legal residence in the United States.

Recipients of I-688 documents are permitted to leave the United States and return here freely.

The man in question was apparently returning from a night out in Tijuana--celebrating his successful amnesty application, officials said--when he showed his newly acquired temporary card to U.S. authorities at the immigration inspection booth at the Otay Mesa crossing. The man was sent to so-called “secondary inspection,” where agents conduct more thorough reviews, but still no one recognized the document.

Finally, he was allowed to enter the United States temporarily in order to clear up the confusion with the INS legalization office. “We called the port and straightened it out,” Coffman said.