1989: THE YEAR AHEAD : IMMIGRATION : INS Will Concentrate on ‘Outreach,’ Enforcement

With the first phase of the landmark amnesty program over, immigration officials will concentrate their efforts in 1989 on two areas: enforcing sanctions against employers who continue to hire illegal aliens and making sure that those who received temporary resident status in the first phase of the program continue on the path to permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship.

“Outreach--that’s going to be our strongest effort,” said Dona L. Coultice, the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s associate regional director for legalization. “Getting all these people educated . . . making sure everybody knows there is a second step.”

About 175,000 immigrants applied for amnesty at Orange County’s three legalization offices under the first phase of the program. Many of those--perhaps 100,000 or more--now must demonstrate knowledge of English, civics and U.S. history in order to obtain permanent residency under the program’s second phase. English classes, offered at community colleges and adult education centers, are overflowing and will probably remain so throughout the year.

With the immigrant population now divided into two groups--those who have applied for amnesty and those who were not eligible, or chose not to apply--the INS can devote its attention to the enforcement provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Until the amnesty period for agricultural workers ended last month, Border Patrol agents were hampered in their efforts to arrest illegal aliens, who could claim that they were eligible for amnesty and intended to apply.

Now, they are faced with no such restrictions. And employers have had 2 years to familiarize themselves with the requirements of the new law, and they can expect tougher enforcement of provisions that forbid them from knowingly hiring illegal aliens.