Amnesty Test All in a Day’s Work : Ezell Picks Up Good PR Points

The idea was Margarita Rebollal’s. As an employment recruiter for the Irvine Marriott hotel, she has 100 employees waiting to take the illegal alien amnesty program’s Proficiency Test for Permanent Residency. Make it more convenient and give them the test at work, she suggested.

But it took Harold Ezell, Western regional commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to make it play in Peoria.

Ezell’s staff alerted the news media, outfitted two meeting rooms at the hotel with flags and posters and Friday afternoon administered 38 tests to hotel employees.

Wearing a green St. Patrick’s Day sport coat, Ezell gave the applicants a pep talk, handed out the results himself, shook hands, clapped backs, kissed cheeks, posed for pictures and did what he could to whip up a party atmosphere.

He urged the hotel workers not to settle for mere permanent residency under the program. “The goal is to be a citizen, a fully franchised citizen of the United States,” he enthused. “Tell your friends, ‘I took that test; it’s not hard.’ ”

Apparently it wasn’t. Thirty-two of the 38 passed, correctly answering nine of the 15 multiple-choice questions. A passing grade means the amnesty applicant does not have to attend an INS-approved class and complete at least 40 hours of instruction in the English language and American civics and history.

The INS is eager to administer as many such tests as possible to ease the load on already overburdened classes.

Before Friday, proficiency tests had only been given in INS offices and at a few other approved sites. About 5,000 of the tests have been given in Ezell’s Western region, and 96% of the test-takers have passed, said George Apkarian, INS test administrator.

Now Ezell wants employers to call and set up test sessions at the workplace.

The test, intended to be simple and easily understood, is administered by videotape. Each question is shown on a TV screen while a recorded narrator reads it twice. Then the four answers--A through D--are shown and read, and the test-taker marks the letter of the correct answer on his answer sheet.

The sheet, designed to be read by computer, is somewhat confusing, and many test-takers spent more time trying to fill in their names, INS numbers and other information than in taking the test.

Enrique Aldana of Santa Ana, a banquet service employee waiting for his score to be tabulated, said he thought it was “a good idea for us. There’s no lost time. We can spend our break taking the test.”

Even better, the test was “pretty easy,” he said.

Ezell declared the day a “tremendous, tremendous experience. . . . I expect this to snowball.”

He said 40% of the people who have applied for amnesty work in the service industry, such as hotels. At the Irvine Marriott, nearly 20% of all employees are amnesty applicants, Rebollal said.

Such employers have a stake in helping their employees gain permanent residency, Ezell said. If an applicant does not take his test or complete school by his deadline, he reverts back to illegal status and his employer can be prosecuted for continuing to employ him.

A few employers are conducting their own schools for immigrants, but all could help by providing a place and time for employees to take the proficiency test, Ezell said. “Employers can call the INS, and we’ll provide testing on-site at no cost to the employers. The least we can do is help.”

When Friday’s tests had been graded, Ezell took charge and assumed the role of emcee. He called Brenda Alvarez de Burton of Santa Ana, a secretary, to come forward and announced she had recorded a perfect score. She smiled, accepted her score sheet, then gave Ezell a peck on the cheek.

SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS

These are sample questions provided by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and are not included on actual permanent residency proficiency tests:

1. Who is the President of the United States today?

a. George Bush. b. Ronald Reagan. c. Jimmy Carter. d. Gerald Ford.

2. Which country is north of the United States?

a. Cuba. b. France. c. Canada. d. Japan.

3. How many states are there in the United States?

a. 35. b. 40. c. 48. d. 50.

4. Which office deals with immigration?

a. The employment office. b. The INS. c. The post office. d. The Social Security office.

5. Where does Congress meet?

a. In Washington, D.C. b. In Chicago. c. In Philadelphia. d. In New York.

6. Which do you need to drive a car?

a. A credit card. b. A bus ticket. c. A driver’s license. d. A Social Security card.

7. In which city is the United States Capitol?

a. New York. b. Washington, D.C. c. Chicago. d. San Francisco.

8. Where should you go for your interview for permanent residence?

a. To a public library. b. To a church. c. To a post office. d. To an INS legalization office. Answers

Answers (Insert upsidedown in hole above)

1: a, 2: c, 3: d, 4: b, 5: a, 6: c, 7: b, 8: d.