Law Eases Procedures for Green Cards : Immigration: The measure has caused widespread confusion. It allows undocumented residents to apply without leaving U.S., but only if they are already eligible.

At a time when policy-makers nationwide have targeted illegal immigration, a controversial new law that goes into effect Saturday will make it easier for tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in California and elsewhere to receive so-called green cards.

The measure allows illegal immigrants who are already eligible for green cards--those approved because of family sponsors or job guarantees--to adjust their status while in the United States rather than returning home to complete the paperwork, a major convenience.

Despite its technical nature, the law has provoked widespread confusion and raised false expectations, prompting criticism of government implementation.

“I’ve gotten hundreds of phone calls from people who think it’s a new amnesty program,” said Peter A. Schey, director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, a Los Angeles organization that assists immigrants.

The prevailing ambiguity even prompted Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner to issue an unusual clarification this week. “Contrary to rumors, this provision in no way provides amnesty to anyone,” Meissner said.

Many of those who will benefit have waited for years for their visa numbers to be called. Starting Saturday, those approved for green cards may finish the process in the United States--after paying a $130 filing fee plus a penalty of $650 for anyone in the country illegally, the agency’s highest levy.

Under previous law, illegal immigrants had to complete the documentation at U.S. consulates or embassies, a requirement that forced many people who were already in the United States to make the often costly trip back home.

Each year, according to the INS, about 100,000 visa seekers who formerly would have been obliged to file abroad will now be able to take care of everything at local INS offices. Most are undocumented relatives of legal permanent residents or U.S. citizens.

A bipartisan congressional majority passed the measure largely without public debate last month as part of a huge appropriations bill. President Clinton signed it into law Aug. 26.

The change was designed to relieve the burden on overseas consular officers, legislators emphasize, not to make life easier for illegal immigrants.

Concerns in the House that the change could spur illegal immigration prompted inclusion of a so-called sunset clause terminating its provisions in 1997.

Critics say the new law rewards criminal behavior and favors wealthy immigrants who can handle the stiff penalties.

“We believe that a person who comes in illegally shouldn’t be allowed to adjust under any circumstances,” said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington-based group that seeks curbs on new entries.

Contending that the measure “opens up a three-year window for people who wish to flout our country’s laws,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) said: “This change in law opens a loophole so large you could drive not only a truck through it, but a truck filled with illegal aliens.”

Nonsense, respond supporters, who say the law merely recognizes reality: Many of the multitudes now languishing on visa waiting lists are already in the United States. Illegal immigrants who are not immediately qualified for green cards remain subject to arrest and deportation, the INS says.

“No one who is not eligible for an immigrant visa will get one by virtue of anything that was changed,” said Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City).

Moreover, Berman and other backers say, those who choose to file in the United States will henceforth contribute tens of millions of dollars in fees and penalties to the threadbare treasury of the perennially underfinanced INS. The money, supporters note, now enriches the carriers that shuttle green card candidates back home.

“Everyone except foreign airlines will be better off,” Berman said.

The $780 combined fee and penalty will, for many immigrants, amount to less than round-trip travel and other expenses associated with returning home to file, experts said. The major exceptions are Mexican nationals, who could probably make the trip to U.S. consulates in Tijuana or elsewhere for considerably less.

Still, many advocates say the $650 penalty is absurdly high for a population often struggling to make ends meet.

“This allows the wealthiest people to take advantage, while forcing the poor who cannot afford these exorbitant charges to remain underground and undocumented,” Schey said.

Exempt from the penalty are those 16 and younger and so-called family unity cases--the spouses and children of amnesty recipients, mostly Mexican nationals, who became legal under the broad amnesty statute passed in 1986.

The new law explicitly seeks to encourage immigrants to file in the United States and pay the attendant costs. Those who opt for consular processing abroad will face no monetary penalty, but most will have to wait three months before receiving green cards--a considerable disincentive for working people.

Apart from avoiding costly travel, advocates said those seeking green cards will enjoy another major benefit: Those filing in the United States will have greatly expanded due process rights if they are turned down because of criminal records, indigence, health problems or other reasons. After denials at consular offices, there are few practical avenues for appeal.

With State Department posts swamped with visa matters, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) wrote the law as a means of alleviating pressures and improving background investigations of the many temporary visa seekers who apply at consulates. The quality of overseas visa screening has come under intense scrutiny since last year’s bombing of New York’s World Trade Center was tied to terrorists allowed into the United States.

“The consular offices in many areas are stretched too thin to do much anti-fraud work,” noted one Senate staffer who worked on the legislation.

In a further bow to security concerns, the new law requires that most adults be subject to full FBI fingerprint checks before green cards are issued. Criminal histories can be reason for disqualification.

The high penalties for those who file in the United States were devised to assist the financially strapped INS, which is now assuming as much as one-third of the consulates’ former visa responsibilities.

Some observers see a dark side: Protracted delays may get worse at an agency that has been assailed for emphasizing enforcement duties over service to the public.

“The INS is already hopelessly backlogged, and I can’t imagine this won’t be yet another problem for local offices to deal with,” said Charles Wheeler, directing attorney for the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles.

Despite the potential deluge of paperwork, INS officials have no immediate plans to hire new personnel.

The workload burden will be particularly acute in Southern California, home to millions of immigrants and perhaps a third of the nation’s undocumented population.

The INS office in Los Angles--anticipating handling as many as 50% of those seeking adjustment under the new law nationwide--is bracing for a crush of applicants and information seekers starting Monday. Special attendants will be deployed to assist those with queries.

“(The law) caught some of us off guard,” said Richard K. Rogers, INS district director in Los Angeles. “We almost didn’t get a good handle on it till it was too late.”

How the Law Will Work

Here is a look at a law that takes effect Saturday and revises procedures for foreign nationals residing in the United States who have been notified of their eligibility for so-called green cards, or legal U.S. residence documents.

* What it will allow: Permits eligible visa-seekers to complete paperwork in the United States instead of returning to their homelands and filing there. Immigrants who are here illegally at the time they file will have to pay a $650 penalty on top of the $130 fee.

* Who is affected: An estimated 100,000 immigrants, mostly undocumented, who become eligible for green cards each year because of family sponsors or job guarantees. Under current law, they had to file at U.S. consulates abroad.

* Costs: Implementation price tag unknown. Total fees and penalties paid to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service could run into the tens of millions of dollars; some may be used to offset costs.

* For more details: The INS is not prepared for telephone inquiries, but agency officials say information will be available at INS headquarters, 300 N. Los Angeles St. in Downtown Los Angeles or 14550 Magnolia St. in Westminster. Nonprofit groups that work with immigrants may also have information.

* What hasn’t changed: There is no new amnesty law, no increased immigration total. This statute is merely a technical revision allowing eligible immigrants to complete the process in the United States.

Sources: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and U.S. Congress