Relaxed Immigration Rules Will Aid 100,000, INS Says : Benefit People Who Left, Came Back Illegally

WASHINGTON — At least 100,000 additional illegal immigrants will be eligible for legalization under relaxed immigration rules, the Immigration and Naturalization Service announced today.

The rule change allows people who left the United States after living here illegally and then used fraudulent documents to re-enter the U.S. to be included in the legalization program.

“There are many applications currently being held by INS that will be affected by this rule change,” INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson told a news conference.

He said that in one case the wife in a Mexican family in Los Angeles in the United States since 1977 returned to Mexico for a family emergency and obtained a visitor’s visa to re-enter the United States after Jan. 1, 1982.

Previously, the woman would not have been eligible for amnesty because she missed the crucial Jan. 1, 1982, cutoff date under the new federal immigration law. Illegal immigrants who can prove they came to the United States before that date are eligible for amnesty under the law.

Nelson said that in another instance a young man from Africa came here in 1973 as a student and worked illegally after completing his studies. He was sent out of the United States on business and obtained a visitor’s visa to return to the United States and under the relaxed rule will now be eligible for legalized status.

At least 100,000 people are expected to benefit from the modification, Nelson said.

Hundreds of applications for legalization have been held up until the INS made the policy change.

Nelson said the revision could be especially beneficial to people from Europe, Asia, Africa and other countries who may have overstayed an initial visa and then left the country for an emergency and acquired another visa to return.

Applicants under the rule change will have to pay $35 for a waiver to be granted legal status.

Nelson also told the news conference that apprehensions of illegal aliens for the 12 months ending Sept. 30 totaled 1.1 million, a decline of 30% from the preceding year, a development that Nelson says shows that the new immigration law is succeeding.

“We attribute the decrease to the fact that fewer people attempted illegal entry because they believed they could not find employment due to the employer sanctions provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act,” Nelson said.

He said apprehensions in September declined more than 42% contrasted with September, 1986, “probably because of heavy publicity in the U.S. and Mexico concerning employer sanctions.”

The 1986 immigration law makes it illegal for U.S. employers to knowingly hire illegal aliens.

For aliens who have been living in the United States illegally since before 1982, the law contains an amnesty provision that will enable them to obtain temporary legal residency. That can be converted to permanent residency status after 18 months for those who can demonstrate a minimal understanding of English and some knowledge of U.S. history and government.