Mix-Ups Cloud End of Amnesty Filing

With the clock running out on the alien amnesty program that ends tonight at midnight, anxious immigrants crowded federal offices Tuesday--sometimes by mistake--as officials made final appeals to those who are eligible, and have not yet applied, to do so.

At the downtown Los Angeles headquarters of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, thousands of immigrants lined up to apply for political asylum and registry, two other procedures for attaining legal status. They apparently misunderstood the well-publicized May deadline as applying to them as well.

A dramatic increase in the number of applications filed by agricultural workers, under another section of the amnesty law, also signaled some confusion on the part of those applicants. They actually have until Nov. 30 to file. Political asylum and registry applications may be filed anytime.

INS officials spent most of the day at the Hollywood Legalization Office--the busiest in the nation--where Western Regional Commissioner Harold Ezell posed as an INS clerk, answering questions and directing applicants to the right lines. The center, which has been festooned with flags and balloons, has been designated the “Amnesty Celebration Center” and will serve as the region’s headquarters during amnesty’s final day. Free popcorn and refreshments were handed out Tuesday.

“On May 4, the door slams, the windows shut,” said Neil Henry, an agency spokesman. “Anyone who feels they qualify should apply. There won’t be another chance.”

“If there’s any doubt in the mind of anyone, they should file. Don’t self-disqualify,” added William King, INS regional director for legalization. He noted that under an abbreviated application process instituted recently, immigrants may merely file an application form with a $185 money order covering the fee requirement. Applicants then have 90 days to submit the required documentation proving that they have lived in the United States since 1981.

Those who do not have the required fee may go to specified social service agencies, known as “Qualified Designated Entities,” and file a “consent to forward” form, indicating that they plan to file.

King said the 16 INS legalization offices in Southern California will stay open past midnight tonight, if necessary, to accept applications from immigrants already in line.

“As long as there’s a line and people are handing in applications, we’ll keep taking them,” King Said. He added, however, that applications received in the mail must have a May 4 postmark.

Vowing to defy what they called “an unjust, racist law,” more than 300 Latinos rallied at Our Lady Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday evening to “reaffirm” their support for illegal aliens who do not qualify for amnesty, but are determined to remain in this country.

The demonstrators were representatives of the 250 undocumented aliens “who sleep in our church,” said Rev. Michael Kennedy, director of the church’s refugee program.

Today’s deadline to file for amnesty “is black Wednesday,” he said.

Demonstrators wore black ribbons on their sleeves to indicate that they “are in mourning because this government is denying them the right to work,” the priest added.

Those who are able to find work are increasingly being exploited by unscrupulous employers who pay them less than minimum wage, if anything at all, Mario Rivas, coordinator of the church’s sanctuary program, said before the rally.

Protesters carried signs in Spanish calling for “respect,” “justice,” “work,” “human rights.”

“No country has the right to close its borders to any man,” one demonstrator’s sign said in Spanish.

Another read: “We don’t want gold or riches. We only want a piece of bread.”

Jaime Guzman, 22, told the rally that he came from Mexico in 1985 “to try to survive. This law is unjust because the truth is that it has taken away our right to work.”

He said he has worked in California, Washington and Oregon harvesting fruit, and “what was asked from us was to be responsible at the work site. Now they are asking for papers.”

Victor Enriquez, 26, said he left El Salvador three months ago after “Salvadoran government detectives” beat him, “injected me with a poison” and left him for dead.

“As a Christian, I ask the people of this country and also its leaders to grant us legal residence while the war in our countries keeps going on,” he said.

After the rally, demonstrators attended a Mass and then a dinner prepared by people who have already qualified for amnesty.

The meal was “a symbol to our brothers and sisters who have been left out that they are not alone,” Rivas said. “We are with you.”

So far, more than 600,000 amnesty applications and about 90,000 from agricultural workers have been filed in the Los Angeles district alone, Henry said. The national total for amnesty applications so far is about 1.3 million.