300 Amnesty Applicants Turn Unruly at Houston INS Center

More than 300 aliens waiting to apply for amnesty at one of the nation’s busiest immigration legalization centers chanted and pounded on windows after they were told to leave, officials said Wednesday.

The applicants, some of whom had waited outside for three days, were told Tuesday morning that they would not be let in because the center had insufficient staff to process them, Richard Rios of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said.

About 25 police officers were called to restore order. After the crowd began to disperse, the 100 to 150 people remaining were admitted to the office and all were taken care of Tuesday, Rios said.

“There was quite a mob. It was wild. It looked like a real riot was going to form,” said immigration attorney J. C. Molina, who had gone to the center with two clients .

The office had been granted overtime and extra staff to cope with a steadily increasing demand for amnesty processing, but the extra workers were withdrawn after the agency’s regional office decided they were no longer needed, Houston INS Director Ronald Parra said.

After he heard of the incident Tuesday, however, INS Regional Commissioner Stephen Martin approved further overtime and staff additions to meet the demand for processing amnesty applications in Houston, Rios said. He said that 10 temporary workers were expected to join the center by Monday.

Beginning Sept. 1, employers may be fined for having illegal aliens on their payrolls.

“There’s a lot of desperation because people are getting pressure from their employers,” said Janet Pena, administrator of the Catholic Charities immigration assistance program.

Workers at the center said they understood the frustration of those waiting to be processed.

“Some are afraid they’ll be fired; some have already been fired,” said Kim Cosley, an outreach specialist at the center.