For years, undocumented aliens have had access to jobs, housing, schooling, medical care, entertainment, and recreation in the United States. Many have wanted for little, except perhaps the most important thing: the certainty of a future.
Ezekiel Okeke, a Nigerian who has been in America illegally since the late 1970s, says he has lived in “constant fear and emotional discord.… Every new person I met I wondered if he was an immigration officer.” But for Okeke and an estimated 3.9 million other illegal aliens, the days of fearing the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) may be over.
Legislative Change
Under the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act, signed into law last November, aliens who can prove they have lived in the United States since the beginning of 1982 will be granted legal residency status, including the eventual opportunity to become U.S. citizens.
The INS, recognizing that its operations spark dread among illegal aliens, has welcomed the help of private and church organizations in bringing forward those who qualify for amnesty. Among the national church organizations active in assisting aliens in the application process are the U.S. Catholic Conference, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and the Presiding Bishop’s Fund of the Episcopal Church.
World Relief, the relief-and-development arm of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), is coordinating one of the most ambitious legalization efforts. Working under the direction of the Evangelical Task Force on Legalization, formed by nine NAE-member denominations, World Relief has established more than 80 counseling centers—almost all of them in churches—where aliens receive information about the new law. It has also set up 17 sites where applications are processed for INS review. This includes the fingerprinting and photographing of applicants.
The effort is important to many conservative Protestant congregations. Heidi Schoedel, director of the World Relief program, said undocumented aliens make up a significant portion of the membership of hundreds of NAE-member churches. Even the pastors of some NAE churches are undocumented.
Fear Of Deportation
The legalization process was launched in May and will continue for one year. INS reported only 85,000 applicants in the first month, a figure far below its expectations. One explanation for the low response is fear among applicants that they will be deported if their applications are rejected. The legislation, however, forbids the use of information on applications to deport aliens.
Schoedel said the support of organizations such as World Relief was contingent on such a guarantee. In a speech to church agencies about two years ago, INS commissioner Alan Nelson said it is not the role of the church to report violators.
Another reason for the low number of applicants is the amount of documentation required to obtain amnesty. While some aliens have destroyed any evidence of their residency in this country, the amnesty program requires that they produce such evidence. Aliens must establish—through such documents as tax forms, rental receipts, and medical records—that they have not left the country for more than 45 days since 1982.
Schoedel said she is confident those who qualify will be able to prove it. “When we sit down with these people and start thinking creatively,” she said, “I think we’ll find they have more documentation than they realized.”
She added that INS has indicated it will be lenient in its judgments. The agency will accept, for example, signed affidavits to account for major gaps in time, INS spokesman Duke Austin said the requirements for amnesty will not be applied strictly. “We’re going to try to find ways to approve applications,” he said, “not deny them.”
INS has said exceptions to the requirements may be granted if, for example, such exceptions are in the public interest or serve to assure family unity. Critics of the INS would like these exceptions to be granted more generously. According to the Los Angeles-based Central American Refugee Center, an 8-year-old Salvadorian boy and his grandmother were deported in March, even though the boy’s parents arrived in the United States prior to 1982, and thus qualify for amnesty.
In addition, some aliens find the cost of the application process prohibitive. Application fees, in addition to the costs for fingerprints, photographs, and medical exams, can total nearly $1,000 for some families. But one requirement for amnesty is that aliens demonstrate they will not become a “public charge.” The INS reasons that those who cannot afford the application costs probably do not meet that requirement.
Immigration Compromise
The Immigration Reform and Control Act represents a compromise between those who think U.S. borders should be tightly sealed and others who think the country should welcome everyone. The legislation is a boon to those who arrived prior to 1982, but it is a major blow to those who have arrived since and to those who continue to arrive.
The law calls for tighter control of U.S. borders. It also establishes fines and prison sentences for employers who hire illegal aliens. Critics of the law especially object to this provision. “One of the basic rights of people is the right to work,” said Oswald Alsaro, peace associate for the American Friends Service Committee. Alsaro said the law will result in major social problems, including strife within families that lose their breadwinners.
The INS’s Austin, however, stressed that the line had to be drawn somewhere. “If you don’t go back far enough,” he asks, “how do you evaluate the character of the individuals you’re letting in?”
The legislation does not require employers to dismiss aliens employed prior to November 5 of last year. But because it imposes sanctions on employers who hire illegal aliens after November 5, the law in effect limits aliens to their current jobs, making them vulnerable to exploitation. In short, the law makes the choice to stay in this country far more difficult.
Churches where illegal aliens worship also face difficult choices. The First Baptist Church in Flushing, New York, for example, serves as a World Relief processing site. But nearly one-fourth of the 650 people who attend services there are aliens who do not qualify for amnesty and will likely have no way to support themselves financially under the new immigration law.
Christians in churches such as these are torn between viewing aliens as lawbreakers or as fellow believers who have become an integral part of their church community. World Relief’s Schoedel said the Evangelical Task Force on Legalization is attempting to draft a policy statement dealing with those who do not qualify for amnesty.
One option is for churches to support illegal aliens. But congregations must consider whether financial support violates the law, thus making them “sanctuary churches.” Also, many urban churches—whose membership rolls are largely made up of welfare recipients—cannot afford to assist illegal aliens.
“For many people, this legislation was the only ray of hope they’ve had for a long while,” says Larry Peak, a community relations specialist for World Relief and the pastor of an urban church in Chicago. “Telling people they don’t qualify for amnesty is one of the toughest jobs our processors have. At times, when I try to console them, I find myself at a loss.”
By Randy Frame.
