Immigrants Cherish New Freedoms Achieved Under Amnesty Program

If Viviana Holguin’s adult English class in Boyle Heights is any indication, the real success of the government’s landmark amnesty program in Los Angeles is measured in the intangibles of everyday life.

The students said Tuesday that qualifying for amnesty has put an extra bounce in their steps and given them a confident air as they go about the smallest of tasks, such as going to the grocery store.

“I do everything now with a little bit of confidence that I never had before,” said Juan Manuel Tenorio, echoing the feelings of fellow classmates who are studying English and U.S. history to complete their 40 hours of class work required for permanent residency.

“I go to the store without looking over my shoulder. I don’t worry about hassles at work. I’m very calm these days. I now know I have rights in this country.”

The students’ observations--aired as they grappled with an English grammar class at the nonprofit One Stop Immigration & Educational Center--added a personal dimension to the findings of a two-year independent study released Tuesday that generally praised the amnesty efforts of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Los Angeles.

In the report, the Santa Monica-based RAND Corp. and Urban Institute of Washington, D.C., concluded that the INS overcame the historic mistrust in Southern California’s burgeoning immigrant communities to persuade nearly 1 million aliens in Los Angeles and the surrounding counties to sign up for amnesty. An estimated 3.1 million applied nationwide.

The report credited the agency with setting up an aggressive public relations campaign and community-based offices to accept amnesty applications from eligible aliens who could prove they had lived illegally in the United States before Jan. 1, 1982.

As a result of INS efforts, more aliens signed up in Los Angeles than anywhere else in the country, the study concluded.

While the 117-page report used cumbersome language to explain the Los Angeles program’s success, the 30 students in Holguin’s class said it was the little things that made amnesty a success for them.

Words such as soy libre (“I am free”) and confianza (“confidence”) frequently popped out in their comments.

“With this status, I can feel free to do what I want,” said 30-year-old Dimas Rivera. “I can help my people freely.”

Tenorio, 27, explained that the amnesty program even affected a decision whether to leave his Eastside home for a stroll with his two preschool children.

“Before, I couldn’t even leave the house sometimes because I was afraid of la migra ,” he said, using the Spanish slang term for the immigration service. “I don’t have to worry now. I go everywhere now with confidence. What’s to worry about?”

“But the most important,” interjected fellow Mexican native Jose Vargas, 26, “is that we are no longer afraid. Not at work. Not walking down the street. Nothing.”

Vargas, like others in the class, is hoping that the legal U.S. residency gained through amnesty will allow them the opportunity to legally bring members of their immediate families to this country.

“I want my family here with me,” said Vargas, who works for a janitorial service. “It’s bad enough when you’re alone and scared.”

Some of the amnesty applicants said the program also meant more pay for them.

Furniture store worker Heriberto Sorieno, a native of the Mexican state of Zacatecas, said his hourly wage shot up from $6 an hour to $8.50, partly because his boss felt that he was worth more money since the threat of deportation no longer hung over him.

“More money puts more food on the table and pays for other things,” Sorieno said.

Some of the confidence and other intangibles gained through amnesty quickly evaporated as Holguin led her English class through the complex world of prepositional phrases.

“OK, Marta,” began Holguin, a junior math major at UCLA. “What’s correct? Do you take sugar in your coffee?”

Marta, faltering while listening to whispering near her seat, struggled for a bit but finally offered up the correct answer in English. “Yes,” she said quietly.

It was not lost on any of the students on Tuesday--Election Day--that they one day could also participate as U.S. citizens.

“That’s a very major benefit,” said Ofelia Torres, who held her baby daughter, Myra, during class. “You can have more benefits as a citizen and voting is one benefit I want to have.”

Added classmate Sorieno, “No one can take advantage of you, truly, if you’re a citizen.”