Ezell in Sombrero : Fair Lends Fun Touch to Amnesty

Immigration officials took their traveling amnesty-awareness road show to the San Fernando Valley on Saturday to encourage illegal residents to apply for legalization under the immigration reform bill.

The six-hour Feria de Legalizacion or legalization fair at Santa Rosa Catholic Church in San Fernando included mariachi music, speeches, balloons and plenty of tamales, paletas and churros sold by vendors who stationed themselves in the church’s schoolyard.

The festive and pleasant fair was one of six events held throughout the Los Angeles area Saturday to celebrate Amnesty Awareness Day.

Officials with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Catholic Charities answered questions and offered tips on how to apply for amnesty before the May 4 deadline.

It was unclear how many of the several hundred fair-goers were interested in the immigration law and how many simply dropped by to hear Mariachi Azteca play popular Mexican songs.

Saturday also was the day to register children for catechism classes at the church.

Free Balloons

Dozens of youngsters lined up for free balloons provided by the East Valley Health Corp., which offered discount rates for the physical exams that are part of the application process.

Some people, such as Maria Elena Montelongo of San Fernando, said they came to see Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Mahony, who touted the immigration law in brief remarks in Spanish and then strolled through the grounds, greeting families and smiling at children.

Other people drifted in and out of an orientation meeting, where INS staff gave page-by-page explanations of the application process.

Some people said they would apply themselves; others said they were collecting information for friends or family.

INS officials said the immigration law has had a major impact on the lives of thousands of Valley residents. They said the INS legalization office in Van Nuys has received about 42,000 applications and the San Fernando office about 40,000.

Ernest E. Gustafson, INS district director in Los Angeles, said the Van Nuys facility was the fifth busiest of the region’s 34 legalization offices.

551,206 Applications

The entire Los Angeles region had received 551,206 amnesty applications as of Friday, he said.

Harold Ezell, INS western regional commissioner, urged fair-goers to submit amnesty applications without delay and said there was little chance the May 4 deadline would be extended.

He said applicants should not be confused by the announcement Friday of a more liberal application procedure.

INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson announced that aliens would have an extra 60 days to provide full medical information and other documentation as long as they submit their applications in time.

Ezell, wearing a gaudy light blue sombrero with gold trim, started the morning by wishing the people good evening in Spanish as they stood in the hot sun.

After a nudge from Gustafson, Ezell changed his greeting to “ Buenos dias. “

After brief remarks, Ezell waded into the crowd to sign black-and-white photographs of El Trio Amnistia--Ezell, Gustafson and Luis Roberto Gonzalez, a popular KTNQ deejay known as the tiger or el tigre.

The three have appeared at legalization fairs throughout Southern California in recent months.

Antonia Ruiz de Alvarez of San Fernando said she attended the fair to see Ezell and Gustafson and seemed genuinely tickled to have their autographs.

She was unaware that several Latino groups repeatedly have charged Ezell with being insensitive to the plight of illegal immigrants.

“It gives me such pleasure to be here,” Ruiz de Alvarez said, holding Ezell’s photograph. A California resident since 1968, she said her application for amnesty already has been approved.

No one asked for the archbishop’s autograph, but a few, including a nun carrying a camera armed with a powerful lens, took his picture from a respectful distance.