Suit Settled in INS Seizure of Documents : Agency Will Replace Papers, Extend Deadline for Amnesty Seekers

The U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agreed to a settlement Monday in a lawsuit filed against border inspectors who illegally seized documents from migrant farm workers who had applied for amnesty under a special provision of the 1986 Immigration Reform Act.

Under the terms of the settlement, announced in federal court Monday, the INS will provide replacement documents to the farm workers and will extend the deadlines for completion of amnesty applications and appeals.

At issue in the case was whether immigration inspectors at border checkpoints could confiscate documents from workers whom they believed, after quick inspection, had committed fraud in their applications for amnesty, said Betty Wheeler, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego.

California and Texas

All of the more than 700 workers involved in the class action suit had applied for amnesty under the farm workers program, Wheeler said. Their amnesty documents were seized as they were preparing to cross the border into California or Texas.

Under the special agricultural-worker provisions of the 1986 law, migrant workers who could prove they had done at least 90 days of agricultural work in the United States between May 1, 1985, and May 1, 1986, could apply to become permanent residents and eventually U. S. citizens.

The case was filed on behalf of the workers by the ACLU in conjunction with California Rural Legal Assistance and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, both advocacy groups. The suit alleged that the practices of confiscating “amnesty” cards, “abusively interrogating” amnesty applicants and deporting or threatening to deport the applicants were violations of due process as well as the provisions of the 1986 legislation.

Under the consent decree announced Monday, the INS must identify all amnesty applicants whose documents were confiscated and notify them of their right to a replacement card, which gives them the right to work in the United States and to travel abroad. Workers whose amnesty applications were denied by the INS in administrative hearings after their cards were confiscated will be allowed to file another appeal and will receive replacement cards.

Applicants who received 90-day permits allowing them to enter the United States to gather documents to support their amnesty applications, but had their permits confiscated at the border, will receive new permits and will be allowed to complete their applications.

Several issues remain unresolved, including whether the INS must expunge from its records the “confessions” made by applicants during questioning at the border. The lawsuit alleges that those statements were coerced by border inspectors.

A hearing on the remaining issues will be held next week before U. S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving.