Laws To Toughen For Illegal Aliens Seeking Visas Must Return Home And Apply; Immigrant Backers Bemoan Shift

Illegal aliens attempting to obtain visas for legal residency could end up banned from the United States for up to a decade under a new federal law that goes into effect in October.

Immigrant advocates fear the changes will break up families, including many in the Yakima Valley where thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants live with family members who are here legally.

“This is a horrible thing,” said Vicky Stifter, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in Seattle.

But lawmakers who drafted the legislation say they were forced to do something to stem the flood of illegal immigration.

“We have 5 million illegal aliens living in the United States right now, and we add another 300,000 permanent illegal aliens a year right now,” said Allen Kay, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House immigration sub-committee.

“Most Americans think that’s a crisis and we are not providing much disincentive to them from coming,” Kay said. “The ban slams shut that door. If you are an illegal alien, you better go home and wait in line as millions of other people do.”

At issue are two laws, one expiring and one taking effect this fall.

Since 1994, illegal aliens with immediate family living legally in this country could, for a $1,000 fee, apply for a visa from local Immigration and Naturalization Services offices. That will change in October when the current law expires and immigrants will be required to return to their home countries to obtain visas at U.S. consulates or embassies.

Critics fear the ensuing visa background checks will show the immigrants had been in the United States illegally. If that happens, a new law in this year’s immigration reform will bar them from returning to the United States for up to 10 years. After April 1, illegal aliens who remain here for more than six months and then depart the country will be barred from returning for three years. Those who remain here illegally for more than a year before returning to their home countries can’t come back legally for 10 years.

Irene Mortensen, INS spokeswoman in Seattle, said her agency is not to blame for any hardship to the families affected.

“It’s easy to blame immigration laws for separating families, but really it’s of their own doing,” Mortensen said. “People came to the United States when they weren’t supposed to.”

But Stifter points out there doesn’t appear to be a mass exodus of illegal aliens. Most will choose to take their chances on getting caught, she said.

“I think it will force more and more people into permanent undocumented status,” she said.

Nives Negrete of the Washington Alliance for Immigrant and Refugee Justice office in Granger has been educating immigrants about the pending changes and encouraging illegal immigrants who qualify for visas to apply before the Sept. 30 cutoff date.

“We are trying to get the message out, but there is a lot of gossip out there and a lot of different versions of the different laws,” Negrete said. “There is a lot of fear in the immigrant community.”