Fair Provides One-Stop Amnesty Aid for Immigrants : Residency: 300 people get price breaks and save time as well. The Fullerton event is designed to ease the bureaucratic demands on aliens who wish to become legal.

Carmen Jurado moved to the United States 17 years ago from Mexico City but never became a legal resident. On Saturday, she took advantage of the Amnesty Fair at the Maple Senior Multi-Service Center in Fullerton, which offered low-cost services to immigrants seeking permanent residency.

By going to the one-stop service, Jurado said she was saving money and time.

“It’s cheaper,” she said in Spanish. “And it’s a good opportunity to get everything done at once.”

Jurado, 51, was one of about 300 people who flocked to the fair to complete the second phase of the amnesty process. At this stage, applicants are required to submit their amnesty application, pass an AIDS blood test and an English exam, provide photographs and pay an $80 fee to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Families applying together can pay a $240 maximum fee.

Officials said most of those attending the fair had already been granted temporary residence status when they applied for amnesty.

“I want to be a permanent resident, and I want to be a citizen so I can do things for myself,” said Jurado, who lives in Fullerton. “I don’t want to be helped any more. I want to help others.”

The fair, co-sponsored by Fullerton Community Services and the Orange County Coalition for Immigrant Rights, not only provided services at low rates but offered applicants free aid in filling out amnesty forms.

The coalition took the passport-size photos for the application forms and residence cards for $10. The Orange County Center for Health administered the acquired immune deficiency syndrome tests for $20. The Santa Ana-based Center for Employment Training provided the English exams for $10.

Other volunteer groups aided with translations, filling out applications and answering questions regarding the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Eloisa Espinoza, administrator for the Maple Senior Multi-Service Center, said: “Basically, everything they do here costs (a total of) $40.”

“AIDS testing can be as high as $180,” said Teresa Mendoza, administrative assistant for the coalition. “Community-based organizations can charge $35 to $75 to have somebody fill out the forms. You’re looking at at least $200 before you even send out your $80 INS fee.”

Robin Blackwell, coordinator for the immigrant rights coalition, said it is important to sponsor amnesty fairs because Orange County ranks second highest in the state in the number of people applying for legal residency and third highest in the country.

“There are 184,000 Orange County people who applied for amnesty,” she said. “What is important about the fair is that forms and requirements are constantly changing. If we don’t provide that information, there are immigration consultants and legal service agencies that will be happy to do this for an outrageous price.”

Blackwell also said the coalition can assist applicants in making a successful transition to legal residency. “The outreach we’re doing today is informing them of the Family Fairness Policy.”

That INS policy allows eligible family members to remain in the United States for an undetermined time. Each year, the INS reviews the status of those qualifying and determines whether they are eligible for residency rights.

Coalition members gave lectures about the new policy about every hour at the fair and passed out flyers. Groups gathered around the speakers as others tended to their amnesty requirements. Outside the center, Mexican music played over a loudspeaker as food booths and tables were set up to provide more information about the 1990 census, English classes and services provided by the Fullerton Union High School and the immigrant rights coalition.

For Maria Guadalupe Ortiz, the visit to the center was a family affair. She was there with her husband and three children for about 30 minutes.

“We’re here to take pictures and fill out our applications,” she said.

Her husband, George Ortiz, said: “We’re saving a lot of money. It’s more expensive at other places. We only paid $20 for the pictures, and we are paying the family rate. This helps us out a lot.”

The next amnesty fair sponsored by the coalition will be in Placentia in either April or May, Blackwell said.

But people can complete the second phase of the amnesty process at any time on their own, she said.