Families Grapple With New Immigrant Sponsorship Rule

Now there is no way, Carolina Aguilar said, to bring her elderly parents from Mexico to live out their final days with loved ones.

Aguilar, who lives in the San Fernando Gardens public housing project in Pacoima, said a poor family like hers has no hope of meeting new, stringent income requirements for sponsoring immigrants.

Her husband, Alberto, supports the family on an annual income of about $13,000 from wages at a local printing factory. And the couple has three children, ages 17, 12 and 5.

Still, the family intended to bring her parents, as well as Alberto’s mother, to Los Angeles as immigrants. They said they do not receive welfare and had no intentions of seeking such government assistance to make ends meet.

But such vows--to the relief of immigration and welfare reform activists--no longer are good enough. New immigration guidelines designed to ensure that newcomers stay off welfare become effective Dec. 19.

The new rules, mandated by Congress’ sweeping Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, include the first-ever financial requirements for U.S. residents who petition to bring relatives into the country.

Generally, sponsors of a new immigrant must have household incomes at least 25% above the federal poverty level. For example, a family of four needs a minimum annual income of $20,062 to sponsor one person.

One study projected that three out of five families headed by Mexican immigrants will no longer qualify.

Up to now, immigrants only had to persuade U.S. authorities that they would work or support themselves without becoming dependent on public assistance.

If the changes prevent families such as the Aguilars from bringing in relatives who might easily turn to government aid, then they will accomplish their goal, federal officials and supporters said.

Criticized by some as elitist or racist, the changes have been praised by supporters, such as Gov. Pete Wilson, who consider them necessary responses to an abused welfare system.

“You are asking the American people to accept your word that this relative is not going to become a public burden,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that supports stricter immigration policies. “If you don’t have the resources, you don’t have the resources. Every one of us limits ourselves and makes decisions based on our resources.”

Elaine Komis, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said the agency, which announced the guidelines Oct. 20, tried to make them fair. “We do expect that the income requirements for sponsors will make it more difficult for some families to reunite,” she said. “[But] now there is no discretionary determination made by anyone.”

Komis said the new regulations provide some options. Joint sponsorship is allowed if the financial burden is too great for one relative, and calculations are based on household income, rather than individual income for sponsors.

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An estimated 565,000 potential U.S. immigrants are expected to submit an “affidavit of support” next year stating that a sponsor backs them financially, federal officials said.

Komis said even immigrants who are coming to the United States to work for relatives, or to companies where relatives own 5% or more, must be sponsored.

The financial backing must continue until the immigrants become U.S. citizens, which takes several years, until the newcomer has worked and paid taxes for 10 years, or until the sponsorship recipient dies or leaves the country permanently. Sponsors who fall short may face lawsuits from the government, private agencies, or even the relatives they signed up to help. New immigrants on welfare could be deported.

Immigration officials said they are in the midst of a study due out in early December that will provide details about who may be most affected by the new rules.

A study by the Urban Institute indicates that more than 40% of all immigrant-headed U.S. households will be unable to sponsor a newcomer. Families from Mexico or Central America were found least likely to afford sponsorship, with more than 57% unable to meet the financial requirements.

Among the groups exempt from the requirements are refugees and those seeking political asylum. Those newcomers, largely from parts of the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia, also are those most likely to depend on welfare.

A recent U.S. Census study found that 5.8% of immigrants receive cash from public aid programs, compared with 4.5% of U.S.-born residents.

Still, some residents, such as George and Lydia Tuanquin of North Hills, consider the new sponsorship rules unfair.

The Tuanquins, who are retired and live off what they call his “meager” Supplemental Security Income, wish it were easier for their six children, all professionals in the Philippines, to move to the United States. None of them would require government assistance, they said.

George Tuanquin, 82, who is active in seeking World War II military service benefits for Filipino war veterans, said the new rules amount to one more government injustice imposed largely on non-whites.

“For 52 years we have been denied,” Tuanquin said, poking a table with his finger to emphasize his point. “This is very prejudicial. Immigrants from European countries are given more privileges.”

Lydia Tuanquin, 63, said she and her husband could only turn to other local relatives to help with sponsorship.

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“They would not come here to be fed by the government,” she said of the couple’s children.

But supporters of immigration reform deny racial motivations and view the changes as positive.

Several community service workers said they were unsure how residents, many of them unaware of the new conditions, will react after the new rules take effect.

“That’s the time they’re going to come and ask all the questions and panic,” said Sona Zinzalian, executive director of social services at the Armenian Relief Society in Glendale. “It’s their responsibility. They have to accept it. Think twice before you bring someone.”

Many families who were focused on welfare cutbacks may be shocked to learn of the immigration changes, said Dennis Kao, immigrant welfare policy coordinator for the Los Angeles-based Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California.

“It’s going to prevent low-income families from being reunited,” Kao said. “People may be afraid to sponsor their families now.”

Indeed, some local residents, such as Carolina Aguilar, have already given up hope.

“I think it’s impossible,” she said, referring to her desire to bring her parents to the United States. “I think now we have no hope.”