Waiver Law May Help Infirm Win Citizenship

Going into her U.S. citizenship exam two years ago, Bach Le knew she wasn’t going to pass.

The pessimism--and her eventual failure--stemmed from her medical problems. At the time, Le was 74 and suffered chronic migraine headaches that she said impaired her memory. Further, she could barely say “yes” or “no” in English because her condition, now exacerbated by a stroke three months ago, hampered her ability to learn the language.

But with the recent passage of welfare reform, it has become more critical, Le said, that she become a citizen so that she will not lose her federal public assistance benefits, a threat faced by most immigrants under the new law.

Now, through a little-known federal regulation passed by Congress two years ago and expected to take effect in a few months, the Santa Ana resident has a slim chance of becoming a U.S. citizen.

The obscure rule would, among other things, allow people with a physical, developmental or mental disability to skip the citizenship exam if they can provide an INS-designated doctor’s certification demonstrating that their condition makes it impossible for them to pass the test.

For individuals to qualify for exemption from the exam, which requires knowledge of English and U.S. history and government, an Immigration and Naturalization Service officer must agree with the doctor’s assessment after an interview with the applicant.

For immigrants such as Le, the implementation of the law could not come soon enough. “I am old and not in good health,” said Le, who emigrated to the United States in 1984. “This program would be very helpful and it is my last hope to become a citizen.”

INS officials estimate that about 300,000 people will apply nationwide for the exemption from the written and oral test.

Advocates with community-based organizations say many of those who will apply are likely to be elderly people, who because of their age and health problems would not be able to learn adequate English to pass the exam. However, the waiver is available to all over age 18 who are qualified.

Not all disabled people would qualify for the waiver; blind people, for example, must still take a Braille version of the exam.

“This law will help those who are so severely disabled that they will not be able to take or pass the test,” said Brian Jordan, an INS spokesman in Washington. “But they have to prove it, and the process is not easy.”

The administration of the process may prove to be difficult for the INS as well.

The Technical Corrections Act of 1994, in which the waiver provision was included, has not been implemented because the law did not define “physical and developmental disability” and “mental impairment.” In the last two years, INS officials have sought consultations with immigrants’ advocates and medical experts in order to draft the guidelines and procedures for determining who qualifies for the exemption.

The INS expects to finalize the policy in January.

But immigrants are already preparing to seek the exemption.

Minh Dinh Vu, one of 36 INS-approved physicians in Orange County, has seen three to four people a day referred to him in the last three months by social service agencies that run citizenship programs.

“The general profile of the patients is that they are old, in their 70s and 80s, and many of them have had a stroke,” Vu said. Only about 10% of those he has seen did not qualify for certification, he said.

Interest in the waivers rose after President Clinton signed the welfare overhaul bill in August. A key provision of the bill, estimated to save the federal government up to $56 billion over six years, would eliminate Supplemental Security Income for legal immigrants.

That aspect of the bill is expected to have dramatic impact in the Vietnamese community, where many of those who collect welfare receive SSI, which provides cash assistance for the elderly, disabled and blind. Of the 880 immigrants who receive SSI in Orange County, 95% are Vietnamese.

Since October, more than 100 people have applied for the waiver through the Vietnamese Community of Orange County, a Santa Ana-based social services organization that works with the community’s senior citizens.

“The proposal has yet to be approved and we have already taken applications,” said Anh Nguyen, who directs the agency’s senior program. “Everyone just wants to be prepared.”

Uong Thi Quy, 84, suffers from chronic headaches and high blood pressure. She said she does not know if she could meet the INS criteria for the exemption.

Nevertheless, she has filled out an application for the waiver and has seen a doctor for the required examination. “I really don’t know if I am qualified,” said Quy, who came to the United States in 1990, “but I don’t know what else to do.”

“I am too old to learn English,” she said, adding that she is taking an English as a second language course to prepare for the citizenship test but remembers little of what is taught in the class. “But without English, how could I pass the test?”

While Quy and others in her predicament worry about their ability to pass the naturalization test, community advocates have expressed concerns that the immigrants, in their desperation to save their threatened benefits, may fall victim to scam artists and unscrupulous lawyers.

Generally, the total cost of the U.S. naturalization examination is about $150. The cost for the processing of a disability waiver is $145, not including the doctors’ fees, which range from $100 to $160.

Community leaders said some immigration lawyers and businesses that process immigration applications have run advertisements in community newspapers that included processing and testing fees several times the standard amount.

“There is so much misinformation out there,” said Nam Loc Nguyen, director of the immigration and refugees department with the Los Angeles office of Catholic Charities, a national social services organization. “I have heard that in the Vietnamese community, there are some people who are advertising their services--to help people get the waiver--for up to $3,000.”

Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this story.