Fear of New Law Apparently Abates : Central Americans Flock to U.S. Border, INS Says

The Hernandez brothers, Manuel and Juan Antonio, left El Salvador a month ago with the idea of finding work in Los Angeles. After crossing two international borders, after being relieved of all their belongings at gunpoint by a thief in Mexico and after a harrowing two-week trip, penniless, on freight trains headed north, they arrived at the border safely.

Now they are contemplating their next hurdle: negotiating the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We hear there’s a lot of work in Los Angeles,” explains the ever-upbeat Manuel Hernandez, who was staying at a church-run shelter here last week.

Soon, the two will be joining the increasing numbers of Central Americans who have been attempting to enter the United States illegally, apparently unfazed by the 1986 immigration law revisions that were designed to stifle such movement.

Arrest statistics of the U.S. Border Patrol in California and Texas indicate a recent surge of Central Americans at the border, particularly Salvadorans, who are fleeing poverty and growing political unrest and violence in their homelands. Arrests of Mexican nationals, who represent the great majority of those apprehended, have also risen substantially this year, but at a far slower rate than arrests of Central Americans.

In reality, no one knows how many people attempt to cross the border illegally. But the Border Patrol arrest statistics, while subject to fluctuations because of patrol staffing, weather and other factors, are nonetheless considered the single best indicator.

In San Diego, gateway to the thriving job market of Los Angeles and elsewhere in California, agents arrested almost 4,000 citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras--the four principal Central American “sending” nations--during the January-May period. That is more than twice as many as were arrested during the same period in 1987, when arrests declined drastically.

By contrast, agents recorded about 200,000 arrests of Mexicans during the first five months of 1988, an increase of about 20% compared to last year.

Arrests Rise in Texas

In Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, another favorite entry point for Central Americans, Border Patrol officials report similar increases. In the March-May period, agents based in McAllen, Tex., arrested 2,451 nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, double the number of arrests during those three months last year.

Unlike Mexican nationals, most of whom opt for a quick return to Mexico once arrested, Central Americans are often held for lengthy periods, at substantial cost, at crowded holding facilities such as the immigration service detention center in El Centro, until their cases are decided or they are able to post bail.

Despite the upswing in arrests, the figures remain substantially below the record numbers of Central Americans, Mexicans and others arrested during 1986. Those numbers helped lead to the passage of the sweeping changes in the immigration law, which, among other things, attempt to reduce the job market by imposing criminal sanctions on U.S. employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens. Now, it would appear, fear of the law is abating, as reports of mass deportations have proved to be exaggerated, and people learn how to circumvent the statute’s requirements by using false documents or other means.

“They have found that there are jobs here, so they’re willing to pay travel expenses, to pay smugglers to come here, especially the Central Americans,” said Harold Ezell, Western regional commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, expressing concern over the development.

Added David Trevino, a supervisory intelligence officer with the Border Patrol in McAllen: “They’re not sure yet if the law’s got any backbone.”

Too Early to Judge

Nonetheless, U.S. authorities said it is too early to conclude that the law is failing to restrict illegal immigration. Officials note that several key components--such as a one-third increase in Border Patrol staffing and criminal sanctions against farmers who hire illegal aliens--have yet to go into effect.

“The foundations are there to have a very good and effective law,” said Dale Cozart, chief Border Patrol agent in San Diego.

However effective the law, many would-be immigrants, particularly Central Americans, appear completely in the dark about it, despite extensive publicity south of the border. “I heard that all you need to get around that is a letter,” said one El Salvadoran here, reflecting a typical understanding of the law.

But even if knowledge of the law were more widespread, many observers believe that its provisions are unlikely to deter large numbers of Central Americans, many of whom are fleeing political persecution--and not solely motivated by economic factors.

“If people are coming here literally to seek safe haven,” noted Kitty Calavita, an immigration law specialist at the UC San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, “then economic measures aren’t necessarily going to work.”

Two Factors Involved

The recent upsurge in Central Americans at the border, everyone agrees, can be attributed to two factors: the continued economic decline, and the recent resurgence of violence, particularly in El Salvador and Guatemala.

“We’ve come here looking for work,” explained Carlos Alfredo Rivas, 26, a laborer who was staying at the shelter here along with his friend and countryman, Mario Rodriguez, 27, both from the El Salvadoran department of Santa Ana, northwest of the capital of San Salvador. The continued war, they said, has drained their region’s economy.

Like many Central Americans, the two said they had stopped off in Mexico City to work and earn some cash before proceeding to the border. Currently employed by car-wash concerns in Tijuana, the two said they are now undecided about whether to attempt the arduous crossing into the United States, or simply return to Mexico City.

“They say it’s not easy to cross now,” said Rivas, an introspective, soft-spoken man wearing shredded jeans.

Many Central Americans use Tijuana as a place to regroup, earn some money and scout the border area, while preparing for the final leg of their journey. A religious worker told of a 30-year-old Guatemalan, a recent arrival in San Diego, whose wife and four young children remained in Tijuana while he crossed the border on his own, rehearsing the trip that the entire family would undertake shortly.

Head for Urban Areas

Most Central Americans who elude arrest pass quickly through San Diego and other border areas, seeking to reach larger urban centers such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, where many have relatives, where their large numbers provide relative safety--and where there are smaller contingents of enforcement agents. However, the Central Americans’ increased presence has certainly not gone unnoticed in San Diego and other border areas.

“The number of refugees we’ve assisted has quadrupled since last May,” said Carol Conger-Cross, coordinator with the San Diego Interfaith Task Force on Central America, a nonprofit volunteer group, who attributes the rise partially to the recent increase in undocumented arrivals, as well as the task force’s greater visibility and outreach. “As the wars grind on,” she said, “the economic situation doesn’t get any better.”

In Los Angeles, social workers said the recent influx comes at a time when unemployment and homelessness are growing rapidly among immigrants. They are encountering greater difficulty finding work as many employers are at least abiding by the letter of the new law that requires them to ask workers for proof of legal status.

“There is misery here; people can’t find jobs as easily, they sleep under the freeways and outdoors, in the streets” said Haydee Sanchez, a paralegal with El Rescate, a social service agency. “But still they feel that it is worth the risk to come to the United States.”

In just a few years, Sanchez said, the price of a pound of beans, a staple throughout Latin America, has increased tenfold in El Salvador--from about 10 U.S. cents to almost a dollar. As in Mexico, wages have not kept up with the price increases. “What alternative do people have?” he asked.

Agree With Assessment

Central Americans interviewed in Tijuana, en route to the United States, agreed with that assessment. Apart from economic problems, many stressed political problems and a strong desire not to become involved in armed conflict, either on the side of guerrillas or the armed forces.

“Where we come from, in the countryside, the guerrillas are very strong,” said Manuel Edgardo Hernandez, 18, who, along with his brother, Juan Antonio, 21, left their rural home in the department of Ahuachapan, in southwestern El Salvador, last month. Nine brothers and sisters remain at home, hoping to receive checks soon from their brothers in el norte.

“They (the guerrillas) come to recruit,” added Manuel, an animated young man with a big smile and prominent features, who was seated in the kitchen of the church-run shelter here. “If you don’t want to join, you could have problems.”

The two men have had an eventful journey. After crossing the Rio Suchiate, separating Guatemala from Mexico, they said, they were robbed of all their belongings, including clothing and $240 in savings, by a plainclothes pistolero, a man they assumed to be a Mexican police officer. Central Americans frequently report such extortions and robberies while traveling in Mexico.

Undaunted, the two men proceeded, walking and catching freight trains, huddling together for warmth at night, and relying on the charity of people they met along the way, many of whom gave them food or money to purchase something to eat. After a two-week trip through Mexico, they plan to set out soon for Los Angeles, where they have an uncle, and dream of finding relatively well-paying work, pocketing their savings for a few years, and then returning home again, perhaps modestly prosperous.

“There’s work in El Salvador, but it hardly pays a man enough to eat,” explained Juan Antonio, in a comment echoed by many, wherever they come from. “We’ll see how life is in Los Angeles. We hope it’s better.”