Last-Minute Amnesty Bids Must Be Made in Hollywood

In an effort to cut down on long lines at legalization offices throughout the region, officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Friday that they will require last-minute amnesty candidates from a seven-county area to make their applications at the INS’ Hollywood office.

Staff shortages at 10 legalization offices serving the INS’ Los Angeles District meant that undocumented aliens hoping for a last chance to qualify for amnesty under the 1986 Immigration and Reform Act were being turned away at many sites. Aliens were camping out overnight at some offices, and violence broke out at the Santa Ana office.

Problems had been reported at other INS offices throughout the Southwest, but lines were longest in the Los Angeles District, officials said. By dedicating the Hollywood office entirely to the late applications, officials said, they hope to relieve the other offices.

“People are not going to be sleeping in parking lots in this region or anywhere else in the country,” said Ben Davidian, INS Western regional commissioner.

Davidian said that when INS Commissioner Gene McNary in Washington was told about the long lines at some offices, he ordered local officials to come up with an alternative.

Immigrant rights advocates criticized the solution.

Susan Alva, an attorney with the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation, said: “We understand there has to be some sort of system. But the idea they came up with totally misses the boat. It appears totally intended to alleviate their black-eye image, to take the lines off the street. To have that one office deal with a seven-county district is ludicrous. It’s going to require people to travel from Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange County to this one office. It’s insane.”