INS, Church Join to Get Word Out on Amnesty

Yolanda Corona nervously edged up to the U.S. immigration official standing on the playground of an East Los Angeles Catholic school Saturday and asked him in Spanish what could be done about her predicament.

She and her husband had lived in Los Angeles illegally for 17 years and were raising three children. Last year they had begun applying for amnesty. Her husband, Jesus Corona, had all his papers in order for the application process, but Yolanda did not. He had been told that he could go no further until her paper work was processed.

Ernest Gustafson, Los Angeles district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, explained in Spanish that her husband could indeed apply for amnesty without her. He urged her to come down to his office this week and begin filing her own application.

“I’ll go, but I need something more than this, I wanted him to give me his signature, I wanted him to give me something more concrete,” she grumbled as Gustafson walked away to face a steady onslaught of questions.

Gustafson, Roman Catholic Archbishop Roger M. Mahony, INS Western Regional Commissioner Harold Ezell and Spanish-language radio disc jockey Luis Roberto ( El Tigre ) Gonzales had come to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in East Los Angeles to urge community residents to apply for legalization. They also answered questions posed to them via a live radio broadcast on KTNQ-AM.

Officials estimated that about 1,000 people showed up for what was billed as the first “Legalization and Immigration Fair.” Although the Catholic Church and the INS have been at odds on many aspects of the 1986 immigration law, Mahony and Ezell referred to Saturday’s effort as “a joint venture.”

“We have to pull together to make it work,” the archbishop said.

Colorfully dressed clowns and people in costumes of their native lands milled about as children played with pinatas and listened to the music of a mariachi band. Tamales and fresh tropical fruit were on sale alongside booths that offered piles of printed information about the immigration law. Nearby, a video explained in Spanish the steps required to file for amnesty.

“This is a very significant day,” Gustafson said. “These are the kinds of things that I think will show the people amnesty is for real, that it’s not a sting.”

Agency Under Fire

He said the appearance of El Tigre helped to make members of the Latino community feel more comfortable with the idea that the INS was actually there to help them. “I think the fear factor is basically eliminated,” he said.

The event is part of the INS’ effort to reach out to the community before the May 4 deadline for amnesty applications.