Circumstances of Asians Call for Amnesty Extension

The U.S. immigration amnesty program, designed to bring into the mainstream millions of undocumented immigrants who have been living in the shadows of American society, needs to be given a fair chance to fulfill its purpose. Without an extension of the May 4, 1988, deadline, hundreds of thousands of those eligible may remain forever trapped in our underground culture and economy.

A year ago, President Reagan signed this significant immigration reform legislation--The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. One provision of the complicated and controversial act created the amnesty program.

To qualify for the program, an individual must satisfy a long list of requirements. Most important, he must be able to prove that he has continuously lived in this country illegally for at least five years. Qualified people have just one year--from May 5, 1987, to May 4, 1988--to compile the necessary documentation and apply.

The first problem is that many eligible applicants, conditioned for years to fear the Immigration and Naturalization Service, are reluctant to come out of hiding and trust the INS.

Also, INS officials are still revising eligibility regulations. But many people, previously rejected by the INS under the old rules, are unaware of favorable changes. There has not been enough publicity to let them know that they are now eligible.

Although we generally think of the undocumented Latinos when we think of the amnesty program, the undocumented Asian Pacific community, which is having a particularly difficult time with the program, illustrates how much work still needs to be done. The INS’ appointment of three Asian Americans this week to help set up outreach programs is a step in the right direction.

To immigrants who speak little or no English and are fearful of government officials, coming forward to apply for amnesty is an intimidating process. Consequently, relatively few Asian Pacifics have applied. It is estimated that in Southern California alone, there are 100,000-150,000 undocumented Asian Pacifics. Yet in the INS’ entire Western Region (Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada) only 29,000 Asian Pacific applications have been filed.

In a typical example, an eligible Asian woman decided not to file a legalization application because her husband and children did not qualify. She feared that the information in her application would be used against her family and lead to their deportation. She did not understand that all applications are confidential.

The INS recently increased its focus on this outreach issue and has taken some constructive steps. Through several meetings the agency expanded the role of the Asian Pacific Liaison Committee to solicit the help of community leaders in publicizing the program, and last month application documents were released in the eight major Asian Pacific languages. Given time, these initiatives and current intensive outreach campaigns by several Asian Pacific American organizations will help bridge this communication and trust gap, but they are expanding when the amnesty year is half finished.

Initially, the INS estimated that it would process up to 4 million to 5 million amnesty applications nationally. Now they say they hope to reach 2 million people. Many agencies and community organizations believe that the original figures were accurate.

If so, what will happen to the other 3 million people? They will not simply go away. The undocumented are here because they are independent, creative, ambitious and sometimes, in the case of refugees fleeing war-torn countries, desperate people. Those who qualify for amnesty deserve a chance to participate in the program.

Despite all of these problems, the INS and Congress seem unwilling to extend the amnesty deadline. It is argued, based on new figures showing a decline in amnesty applications, that no more time is needed. Not true--the decline is simply a product of the law of diminishing return. The INS has already reached the easy-to-reach immigrant; it is the underground immigrants--those suffering the most--who have yet to apply. It takes time and effort to get the word out to these people. Simply to suggest that a year has passed since the act was passed does not satisfactorily resolve problems of communication, policy and documentation. By extending the amnesty program just six months we can integrate hundreds of thousands of additional eligible immigrants into American society.

As a nation we have a choice to make. Do we resign ourselves to the creation of two classes of Americans--the unprotected citizen and the vulnerable undocumented immigrant? Or do we extend the amnesty program and work toward a humane, fair and consistent policy that offers the promise of America to all responsible, long-time residents who live within our borders? The choice is clear and Congress should act immediately to extend the amnesty program.