Central Los Angeles : Deadline Nears for Salvadorans

Despite news accounts about an extended deadline, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has reiterated that tens of thousands of Salvadorans filing for political asylum under the favorable terms of a federal court settlement have only one week left to submit their applications.

“This is it, the train is pulling out of the station and we hope all eligible El Salvadorans are on board,” said Dan Kane, an INS spokesman in Washington who directed his comments at the Salvadoran community in the Los Angeles area, the nation’s largest.

Recently, Kane noted, reports in Los Angeles have mistakenly suggested that the oft-extended deadline had been pushed back once more, generating considerable confusion. But, Kane stressed, there will be no such extension.

To be eligible, political asylum applications must be postmarked by Jan. 31.

What was extended until April, Kane said, was the expiration date of work-authorization documents now held by Salvadorans eligible for political asylum under the terms of the federal court case. Authorities extended the working papers for three months to allow time for issuance of new employment documents for those who are starting to submit political asylum petitions.

As the application deadline approaches, social service agencies working with Central Americans in the Pico-Union district and other areas fear that a last-minute surge of applicants will overwhelm their ability to help people.

At issue are about 200,000 Salvadorans nationwide who are believed to qualify under the terms of the landmark 1991 court settlement in American Baptist Churches vs. Thornburgh--commonly referred to as the ABC case. The U.S. government was accused of arbitrarily denying political asylum requests from Central Americans.