Poor Publicity Cited as Fraction of Eligible Apply : Only a Few Use 2nd Chance at Amnesty

Only a fraction of the anticipated 50,000 aliens who were denied an opportunity to file for amnesty but who could benefit from a special court-ordered legalization have come forward, according to lawyers involved in the case.

The deadline for filing with the court is Aug. 31, said Carolyn Waller of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law. “We just hope that everybody will tell anybody they know who might be eligible and that they will file,” she added.

Those eligible for stays of deportation and work permits under court order include non-immigrant aliens who entered the country legally--such as students, tourists and business people--and then violated the terms of their visas and were initially barred from filing for amnesty.

To qualify for the court-ordered program, the visa violation must have occurred prior to Jan. 1, 1982, and the applicant’s illegal status must have been known to the government through such means as tax returns, social security forms or failure to register as an alien with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Application forms for the court program are available at INS legalization offices.

The program is the result of a lawsuit filed by immigrants’ rights lawyers last spring in Washington. U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin initially ruled to extend the amnesty application period for these aliens beyond the May 5 close of the amnesty program. Since immigration officials had originally ruled them ineligible for amnesty, only three weeks were left in the one-year amnesty program.

Decision Reversed

However, in July, after a Supreme Court decision that appeared to set a precedent against courts extending deadlines imposed by Congress, Sporkin reversed his decision on the extension, according to lawyers in the case.

But since then, three other courts have granted amnesty extensions for other categories of aliens who also claimed that they were wrongly left out of the process, said Waller. Based on those decisions, Waller said she will ask Sporkin to reconsider an extension.

If Sporkin does not grant an extension, Francisco Garcia Rodriguez of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said the group, a plaintiff in the case, will appeal the decision.

So far about 3,000 aliens have applied. Like other immigrants’ advocates, Waller faulted poor publicity for the low response.

Many Asians Apply

As anticipated, a large proportion of the applicants are Asians. Like Europeans and Africans, they are the most likely to arrive in the United States with legal visas that are required at U.S. airports and other ports of entry.

Still, the turnout has been disappointing, as it was in the amnesty program, said J. Craig Fong of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California.

“Asian Pacific immigrants have felt the (amnesty program) was not intended to benefit them,” he said. And despite well-publicized outreach efforts in the Asian community during the second half of the one-year program, Fong said that “the INS treated Asians as an afterthought.”