RAND Praises INS’ Amnesty Role in L.A.

A RAND Corp. study has concluded that the Immigration and Naturalization Service--a government entity historically held in distrust by its constituents--successfully shed its “border patrol” mentality in Los Angeles and persuaded nearly 1 million aliens to participate in a controversial amnesty program.

The study, scheduled to be released today, said the INS’ Western Region managed to sign up more amnesty candidates under the landmark Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 than any other region of the country.

It was seen by immigration experts as a vindication of former INS Western Regional Commissioner Harold Ezell, whose cornpone publicity stunts and off-key singing voice were credited with persuading many hesitant illegals to come forward. At the time of the amnesty enlistment, Ezell’s antics often were criticized as unprofessional and contributed to his departure last year.

“I think Ezell promoted the kind of policy that was a success,” said Abby Robyn, a RAND social scientist who co-authored the report. “In the (Los Angeles) training manual for legalization officers was how to handle clients. That’s PR and that’s very unusual for the INS.”

The RAND report was one of several conducted nationwide by the Santa Monica-based research organization and the nonprofit Urban Institute in Washington. The studies, financed by the Ford Foundation, were intended to assess the amnesty program.

The report’s authors said the Los Angeles study, conducted between July, 1987, and June, 1989, was based on 150 interviews of INS officials, attorneys who specialize in immigration law, advocates of immigrant rights and other experts in the field. Federal, state and local government officials also were interviewed. The study incorporates the findings of several independently organized analyses of the amnesty law.

Robyn and her co-author, political scientist Elizabeth Rolph, said the INS success in implementing the amnesty program in Los Angeles was due in large measure to INS officials’ accessibility to the news media and a $15-million advertising program that urged immigrants in at least six languages to apply.

These accomplishments were realized even in spite of INS’ own problems.

“The service had a reputation of being an entrenched bureaucracy, poorly staffed with Neanderthal record-keeping mechanisms and committed to the adversarial traditions of the Border Patrol,” the authors wrote. “In Los Angeles, the service has proved itself adaptable and able to play the new roles of serving the immigrant community. . . .

“Certainly critics can point to contrary instances, but on balance, considering the service’s historic role and the dimensions of the task, the INS has performed remarkably.”

The report said that Los Angeles performed especially well when compared to INS efforts in eight other cities. In New York, for example, fewer than 30,000 aliens applied for amnesty.

The report credited the establishment of at least six amnesty community centers in Los Angeles and Orange counties and flexible guidelines for determining eligibility for the high turnout in the Southland.

When the sign-up period began on May 5, 1987, Ezell took it upon himself as to promote amnesty, holding hundreds of news conferences and publicity stunts through the INS’ Western Region--California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam.

He redefined the low-profile role of the regional commissioner’s job by gladly donning Mexican sombreros and posing with Elvis Presley impersonators to get the amnesty message across.

The former Der Wienerschnitzel executive even formed a signing group with Ernest Gustafson, former INS district director for Los Angeles, and radio personality Luis Roberto (El Tigre) Gonzalez. Aliens openly laughed at the singing ability of El Trio Amnistia at various public functions, but Ezell’s showmanship won over many aliens even if he couldn’t speak or sing in Spanish.

Ezell’s resignation was accepted last year by the Bush Administration. Although his work was roundly praised by many Administration insiders, some officials within the Justice Department, which oversees the INS, privately said Ezell’s antics persuaded some Bush aides to recommend his dismissal.

Ezell, who left the INS post 15 months ago, said he was pleased with the RAND assessment.

“I’m glad for that,” said Ezell, who has set up a consulting firm in Newport Beach to help wealthy foreigners set up business in this country. “I feel that without the (INS’) Western Region, there wouldn’t have been a (successful) amnesty program.”

The RAND report, meanwhile, took a wait-and-see attitude on whether Ezell’s successor, Ben Davidian, could maintain the momentum created by Ezell and Gustafson. “It will be interesting to see whether the commitment and flexibility that were the hallmarks of the early phase of legalization will survive into the second” under Davidian, the report said.

The praise for the Los Angeles operation’s efforts in enlisting amnesty candidates did not come as a surprise to some alien rights advocates who had come, begrudgingly, to appreciate Ezell’s flamboyant approach.

While critics have said that Ezell made outrageous statements demeaning to immigrants, those contacted Monday said they preferred Ezell to the reserved Davidian, who they say is less accessible and aggressive than his predecessor.

“Certainly, we were surprised and pleased at the way Ezell made the process of amnesty accessible,” said Lavinia Limon, director of the International Institute, an immigrant service group in Boyle Heights.

Juan Jose Gutierrez, executive director of One Stop Immigration & Educational Center in East Los Angeles, added: “The bottom line is the bottom line. (Ezell and his INS subordinates) were flexible. The new team is not flexible. Ezell did a very credible job.”

Vibiana Andrade, regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Los Angeles, held a different view, contending the INS in Los Angeles made the amnesty process demeaning to applicants and unnecessarily difficult.

“Ezell is no friend of ours,” Andrade said. “The INS effort during legalization was abysmal.”

BACKGROUND

Under the 1986 law, immigrants who could prove they had lived illegally in the United States since before Jan. 1, 1982, were eligible for amnesty. Of the 3.1 million who applied, nearly 1 million were from greater Los Angeles, according to INS figures. Under the program’s second phase, which requires completion of English and U.S. history courses, an estimated 90% of the applicants in Los Angeles and surrounding counties have qualified for permanent resident status.