Amnesty and the Family

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has been left with a difficult job by the vagaries of some elements of the new immigration legislation. That is evident in the effort to draw up regulations regarding details of the amnesty program. There is no easy way to satisfy conflicting demands that seek both to protect the undocumented aliens who have lived for many years in the United States and to treat equitably those who want to emigrate legally to the United States under provisions of the regular immigration program.

But there are some fundamental principles of human rights that must be respected--none more important than respect for the sanctity of the family.

Under new regulations reported to a congressional subcommittee this week, alien children who do not otherwise qualify for residence will be subject to deportation unless both parents qualify. And the spouse of a person qualifying for amnesty will also be subject to deportation. This already is triggering the breakup of families.

Alan C. Nelson, commissioner of the immigration service, told members of Congress that the immigration legislation gives the service discretion in handling children, but he said that it does not permit the INS to provide special protection for a spouse who fails to qualify. His views on the limitations of authority regarding spouses has been challenged by other experts. Clearly, if the legislation is that ambiguous, Nelson needs to ask Congress for a clarification, and in the meantime suspend any action that breaks up families.

The United States has long made the sanctity and unity of the family central in its own immigration laws. And the United States has been a consistent advocate of family unity in supporting international refugee and human-rights programs. Each year in its review of the Helsinki accords on European security and cooperation, to which the United States is a party, Congress devotes a special section to family reunification. In its appeals to the Soviet Union and the nations of Eastern Europe on family reunification, the United States has gone beyond the nuclear family of parents and children to argue for reunification of other family members as well. The dispute over immigration amnesty affects only the nuclear family.

Principle as well as compassion must rule the amnesty program.