Suit Claims Amnesty Papers Taken Illegally

U.S. border agents from California to Texas have wrongly seized the immigration documents of hundreds of undocumented agricultural laborers in recent months, often coercing the workers to sign confessions “admitting” that they had used fraud to receive amnesty, a coalition of immigrants’ rights groups charged in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The groups alleged that amnesty seekers who have applied for legal residence as special agricultural workers have been harassed and threatened by overzealous U.S. border inspectors seeking evidence of fraud.

“A lot of these people have lost their jobs and become separated from their families because of these actions,” said Roberto Martinez, an activist who heads the U.S.-Mexico border project for the American Friends Service Committee.

Application Period Ends

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego on the final day of the 18-month application period for foreigners seeking amnesty as farm workers under the terms of the sweeping immigration reforms approved by Congress in late 1986.

Tens of thousands of last-minute applicants took advantage Wednesday of what may well be their last opportunity to legalize their status in the United States. More than 1.1 million are ultimately expected to apply nationwide, more than half of them in California, numbers that more than double initial estimates.

In San Diego County, an anticipated crush of last-minute applicants failed to materialized Wednesday at amnesty centers in San Diego and Escondido, which were open until midnight, like offices throughout the state. Business was steady at both sites, but the crowds were thin compared to the droves of eleventh-hour applicants who showed up last May 4 for the final day of the 12-month application period for the separate, general amnesty program.

“The surge here is certainly somewhat less than we expected,” said James Turnage, the INS district director in San Diego, who noted, however, that the number of applicants had been rising in recent weeks.

90,000 Expected in County

About 90,000 people are ultimately expected to apply for amnesty in San Diego County, including some 50,000 filing as farm workers and another 40,000 under the general amnesty program.

Since May of this year, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday, INS officers have pressured farm workers returning to the United States from Mexico to withdraw their amnesty applications after signing “confessions” admitting that they had committed fraud.

In some cases, said Betty Wheeler, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, applicants were threatened with lengthy jail terms or hefty fines, and in at least one instance, warned that a child would be taken away. Those who “confessed” to fraud or agreed to relinquish their documents during interrogation have not been allowed to re-enter the United States.

“It’s a practice we’ve heard about all along the border,” said Wheeler, who noted that the plaintiffs are seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action for all affected applicants nationwide.

Quick action in rectifying the situation is critical, critics argued, because of the need to allay applicants’ concern about re-entering the United States at a time when many are planning to return to Mexico and other home countries for the holidays.

Wrongdoing Denied

Immigration officials declined to direct comment on the lawsuit, but they denied any wrongdoing.

“In general we feel that we are complying with the letter and spirit of the law,” said John Belluardo, an INS spokesman in Los Angeles.

Authorities concerned about fraud rates that purportedly top 50% in some farm-worker legalization centers have launched a well-publicized effort to dissuade such deception, video-taping some amnesty interviews, tightening agency reviews of applications and, in some cases, even increasing the evidence required of applicants. Critics have maintained that the fraud problem is exaggerated and the heavy-handed techniques have discouraged legitimate applicants.

There was no precise word on how many farm workers have had their immigration documents seized at the border because of alleged fraud.