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New York, January 31: It's a narrow window of opportunity for amnesty, one that some Barbadians and other West Indians living illegally in the United States are being encouraged to take advantage of. But even before the public outreach campaign by the federal immigration agency to encourage as many as 200 000 eligible undocumented immigrants to file applications for amnesty gets under way in full steam, a New York City elected official, Yvette Clarke, a West Indian and a member of the New York City Council, says the programme "is so narrowly crafted" that it would leave large numbers of Caribbean nationals out in the immigration cold. "It needs to be broader than the way it is being implemented," said Clarke. "Many people from the Caribbean may have not been advised of the class action suits. We may find that our numbers are a lot smaller compared with those who knew about them. We need to mobilise the City Council to get behind our elected representatives in Washington to expand the scope of the programme. It is too narrowly crafted and our federal elected officials must speak up on behalf of those people who may not have filed. We must search for ways to expand the parameters of it." The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) has announced that it was launching a public outreach campaign to reach the illegal aliens who have been living in the United States since the early 1980s but who were unable for one reason or another to take advantage of the amnesty back then. Golden opportunity " This public outreach campaign provides a golden opportunity for all eligible individuals to apply for Life Legalisation benefits," said Michael Garcia, acting INS Commissioner. "It reflects the agency's commitment to assist individuals who want to come into compliance with United States immigration laws." The limited amnesty programme is being offered under the provisions of the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act 0f 2000. To be eligible for amnesty, a Barbadian, Jamaican or St Lucian, for example, must have entered the United States before January 1, 1982, and lived illegally in the country continuously through May 4, 1988. The undocumented immigrants must have remained in the United States between November 6, 1986, and May 4, 1988. They must also have filed a written claim as part of a claim in one of three class action lawsuits brought against the INS by the Catholic Social Services, Inc.; the League of Latin America Citizens; and Zambrano. The lawsuits can be traced to the 1986 amnesty programme, which allowed hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to change their status. The plaintiff sued the INS, contending that the agency had discouraged many immigrants who were eligible to change their status from applying for amnesty. In addition, they accused the INS of incorrectly rejecting the applications of thousands of undocumented immigrants. Stand a chance Now, the people whose status has been in limbo for 20 years stand a chance of becoming legal residents. It's not known how many Barbadians and other West Indians can take advantage of it. Immigration officials were quick to point out that the opportunity being offered didn't affect all illegal aliens. "Individuals who meet the United States residency requirements and who, before October 1, 2000, filed a written claim for class membership in any of the lawsuits, are eligible to apply for adjustment of their legal status under the LifeAct legalisation provision," stated the immigration agency. "The Life Act provides eligible applicants with work authorisation and a stay of removal or deportation proceedings while their adjustment applications are pending," added the agency. "It also protects from removal and provides employment authorisation for certain spouses and minor children of eligible applicants for the period of time which they are family unit protection." Most of the immigrants who are eligible live in New York, California, Illinois and Texas and the INS says "the majority of potential applicants under this provision of the Life Act are Hispanic with the largest number being natives of Mexico. Some 55 000 immigrants have already applied. Council member Clarke complained that the June 4 deadline gave people little time to act. "That in itself is too restrictive," she said. "To mobilise communities where people out of necessity have had to go underground and to spread the word in a way in which it wouldn't imperil others would be difficult." She also warned against "unscrupulous individuals" who would seek to take advantage of the situation by taking money from applicants, promising quick and easy INS approval but couldn't help them. "They may try to capitalise on the situation and that's going to be a challenge we will face in communities where you find a lot of Caribbean folks," she said.
There are those who blame them for the sagging economy, accuse them of getting a free ride on the back of taxpayers, condemn them as shunting assimilation. And to top it all, after Sept. 11, there are those who treat undocumented immigrants as enemy suspects.
Yet, their reality is one of doing the kind of hard - and often dangerous - work few others want, for minimum or close to minimum wages. That was the case with five workers killed in October 2001 in Manhattan when the 13-story scaffolding they were working on collapsed. The tragedy prompted Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau to bring manslaughter and assault charges against Phillip Minucci, the construction contractor who hired them.
In a news conference, Morgenthau emphasized that his office was taking special interest in this kind of case because the workers are often undocumented and, not surprisingly, exploited.
House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) seems to be aware of this reality, and Thursday he introduced legislation to legalize millions of undocumented workers.
"Today we announce a bill that recognizes the hard work of undocumented immigrants," the congressman said in a press conference.
Dubbed the Earned Legalization and Family Unification Act of 2002, the legislation would give legal status to undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for at least five years and have held a job for at least two. A background check also would be required.
"Legalization for hardworking immigrants is a key component of comprehensive immigration reform," said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum in Washington. "Gephardt's announcement is a crucial first step."
Plus, it is the fair thing to do.
These are workers who more than earn their keep. According to an August 2001 UCLA study, undocumented immigrants contribute at least $300 billion to the U.S. gross national product annually. Not exactly a free ride.
And in terms of national security, far from representing a risk, nearly 50,000 immigrant soldiers are protecting the country as members of the armed forces.
"Gephardt's bill is important, among other things, because it opens a public space to discuss legalization," said Héctor Figueroa, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union Local 32B-32J, which has taken the lead in issues affecting undocumented workers.
The timing of the bill, though, has raised some questions. Because both parties are so intent on courting the Latino vote, community leaders are worried that the bill might be an electoral ploy instead of a serious attempt to address the very important issue of immigration reform.
"Democrats and Republicans are obsessed with not letting the other get any credit," said Margie McHugh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. "And one of the worries of community advocates is that both parties could be cynical and introduce a bill to look good in the eyes of Latinos so they will vote for them, but not really do any work to pass it."
One way or the other, the issue is out there again. And with a new meeting between Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox meeting scheduled to take place in a few weeks, some people think the amnesty proposal that was being debated could gain new life.
"It could happen," McHugh said. "The President is feeling the pressure to give something to the Latino community before the coming elections."