New Law Alarms Immigrants
A new Federal law that places greater limits on legal immigration, makes penalties for illegal immigration more severe, and expedites the deportation process has many immigrants in the community worried, hungry for accurate information, and even rushing to the altar to marry United States citizens.
Immigrants on the South Fork, whose numbers have increased dramatically in recent years, are caught in the vortex of the nationwide debate over immigration policies. Last year Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which, among other things, sets a deadline for illegal immigrants to leave the country and makes legal immigrants deportable for minor crimes committed years ago.
The law reflects a sentiment among some Americans that immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans and milking social service agencies for undeserved benefits.
Fulfilling A Need
But advocates for immigrants on the South Fork take issue with this view. "If the immigrants on the South Fork were all gathered up and thrown out tomorrow, we'd be in big trouble," said Sister Cathi Kugler of the Hispanic Apostolate of Southampton.
Sister Cathi thinks the Immigration and Naturalization Service needs to hear that "these people are fulfilling a real labor need out here on the East End," a need that would not be met without them, "especially not at the wage the Hispanic gets."
"Wherever there is a high concentration of immigrants the economy in this country is stronger," she said.
Sister Cathi is opposed to many of the new law's provisions, but said she was "taking a wait-and-see attitude."
Unfounded Rumors
"Every day things are changing," she said. One thing she feels confident of, however, is that "Immigration [and Naturalization Service] is not looking to spend money deporting people."
When portions of the law went into effect exactly one month ago, unfounded rumors that the I.N.S. planned to round up and deport undocumented immigrants en masse ran rampant in immigrant communities.
The law provides that, with certain exceptions, illegal immigrants who remain in the country for 180 days after April 1, 1997, will be barred from re-entering for three years, and those who remain beyond one year will be barred for 10 years.
Anthony Rosalia, the editor of the Southampton-based Spanish-English weekly El Mensajero and a court interpreter on the East End, agrees that immigrants are an important part of the local economy. "Many, many people, yes, they're undocumented, but they pay every penny of their taxes and they've never gotten a refund," he said. "The only time they might get help is if they have a baby."
A Colombian immigrant, "Miguel" (not his real name), spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity after a workshop on the new immigration law held in East Hampton.
He is one of the undocumented in the East End's work force and originally came to the U.S. on a tourist visa with his wife and two daughters. When their visas expired, the family did not leave the country and all of them are now "out of status."
Long Hours, Little Money
Each morning, long before his wife and two daughters are out of bed, Miguel gets up for a delivery job that lasts for hours. When he's through he takes a two-hour break, then reports to his second job as a house painter. He earns less than $10 an hour but is a willing employee, offering to put in additional hours, an extra day, or to do jobs his co-workers may not want to tackle.
On The Books
"The American employers love the Latin man because he will work longer and for less money than Americans who have the fortune to be born here, speak good English, and can do anything they want to do," he said. "They would not like to do the work I do."
Miguel works on the books and has state, Federal, Social Security, and Medicaid taxes taken out of his paycheck, but like many other undocumented immigrants who work with a false Social Security number, he has never filed an income tax return.
He and his wife have built a life in East Hampton. They are both working and learning English. His daughters are enrolled in school here. Before the family came to the U.S., Miguel's mother was already living here. As a legal resident, she was able to petition for Miguel's sister to get her green card.
After several years of living outside the system, but paying into it, Miguel wants to do the right thing. He's tired of looking over his shoulder, tired of worrying about the fate of his family should their situation be discovered, and anxious to legalize his status.
Slim Chances
Before the changes in the law, Miguel might have been considered for legal residency despite all this. Now, his chances of doing so while staying in the U.S. are slim to none, and his chances of keeping his family together through the process are almost nil. Unless they leave their life here behind and have someone sponsor them, while they wait in Colombia, they have virtually no hope of becoming legal residents of the U.S.
His mother could petition for him, but the process might take years, and she could not petition for both him and his wife, because in-laws and even siblings are not considered admissible immediate relatives.
Under provisions of the new law, if he falsely claimed citizenship to obtain his job, for example, and I.N.S. found out, he could be deported and barred from ever returning to the U.S. or legalizing his status.
"Harsh" Law
"The law is very harsh. There is no amnesty," said Veronica Tobar of the Manhattan-based New York Immigration Coalition. "The climate in this country is anti-immigrant."
In the past month Ms. Tobar led three workshops at local Catholic churches addressing the new immigration law, in East Hampton, Montauk, and Southampton. The workshops targeted the large population of Spanish-speaking immigrants on the East End and were held before or after Spanish-language masses.
"The idea is to deter illegal immigration," she said, "but this is not doing it."
She and others at the Immigration Coalition have had a frantic few months as the countdown to April 1, when the law took effect, brought a deluge of desperate questions from immigrants, immigration lawyers, and advocacy groups. Since then, Ms. Tobar and her colleagues have been traveling the New York metropolitan area seeking to calm panicked rumors with the cold, hard facts.
Desperate For Facts
After the workshop in Montauk, she said, "they grabbed the information I had like you have no idea, like I was giving away money."
Some 75 people stayed after the Spanish-language mass at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk to see what she had to say. The majority of them, Ms. Tobar noted, were men working in the service and tourist industry who had originally come into the country without the proper documents. Most were from countries in South America.
The group in East Hampton was about half the size and was predominantly Central Americans who had originally entered the U.S. legally. "Their issues were completely different," she said.
Rush To The Altar
In Montauk many came hoping to hear of an undiscovered bright spot in their immigration dilemmas, but, she said, "there are no solutions for them, short of marrying a U.S. citizen and even then. . . ." She trailed off, aware that the I.N.S. will be scrutinizing each and every marriage in the last few months to be sure they were "good-faith marriages."
In the final months before the law took effect, scores of immigrants rushed to marry citizens and have their spouses start the petition process for them. Many of the marriages were real, but no doubt in some cases legal necessity hastened the course of love.
In the first three months of the year, the East Hampton Town Clerk's office issued 81 marriage licenses. For the same time period last year, the town issued just over 20 licenses.
Ran Out Of Licenses
There is no way of knowing for sure if the quadrupling of licenses is connected to the deportation scare, but Frederick Yardley, the Town Clerk, guesses that, at least in several cases, it was.
Mr. Yardley said there had been such a rush on marriage licenses in New York in the first three months of the year that the state had literally run out of them.
Though the I.N.S. claimed that getting married to a legal resident or U.S. citizen before April 1 offered no advantage to the applicant under changes to the immigration law, many believed it gave them a better shot at becoming a legal resident than any other option.
It is an unpleasant option that Miguel and his wife are considering. They have discussed getting a divorce and remarrying U.S. citizens. Then they could legalize the status of their children as well and perhaps not have to leave the U.S. "We love each other but we don't know what else to do," he said after the workshop.
Still A Chance
Melinda Rubin, an immigration lawyer with an office in Southampton, believes that the chances for becoming legal by this route may still be good for a few months. The I.N.S. has received scores of these petitions.
"If they get your application within the next two months and they accept the check, the chances are high. But after June 1, I expect they're going to start returning applications," she said.
"Ramon" and "Terry," who is American, are already married, but at the East Hampton immigration workshop, they were worried. Terry is petitioning on Ramon's behalf and they are waiting for their meetings with the I.N.S.
Grounds For Deportation
But the two have had domestic disputes in the past, and once the police were called to intervene. They are still together and said they had worked out their problems. Even so, Ramon isn't a shoo-in for citizenship, because under a provision of the new law, being convicted of domestic violence or stalking can be a grounds for deportation.
The new law also makes it harder for those seeking asylum or refugee status in the United States. It also makes it harder to file class action suits on behalf of large groups of immigrants.
"It's a poorly written law," Ms. Rubin said. Not only does it create an entirely new vocabulary of immigration terms, but it is full of contradictions, she said.
Though interpretation of the law changes daily, Ms. Rubin is able to tell people one simple fact when they ask her for immigration assistance.
"There may be a chance you're going to have to leave the country by Sept. 30," the six-month deadline for leaving the country for illegal immigrants seeking to become lawful citizens. It is an unpleasant bit of advice, but in many cases it is the best she and other advocates can offer.