European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 04, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse Immigration tangle main in dlr Timm new York time fees that opened last week at fort Mccoy wis. Ire Are a lot of problems. Everybody is afraid. I i be out said Edgardo i Glescic 48, As he boarded e leaving Arkansas for the East where he has him was Rafael Breton a 16-year-old refugee to study computers at a . College. So far knows two american phrases hello my " and Kun flux there had been a series of ions the week before the riot one night 350 Refu med out the Back of neighbouring Jenny Lind ark., Are nor there s not a person in this town who does t have loaded. And Well use them if they come Back Ocer Ron to god i la blow pm half in two added John Ming to the tension ire dozens of cuban Amerl from around the nation wailing impatiently we the Gates. They be been blamed for some of Aller disturbances i were totally unprepared for them Fema Man Bill Mcada the word was out that if they came for be could leave right away. Many of them mad expensive trips Here to find out that their relatives Ive through the system. There s a lot of lors sweep the Camp. Many refugees say they pc clansmen May attack that cuban americans out Ere beaten by Federal marshals and that the re tent process is slow because their presence makes for local businessmen. M of the refugee leaders Pedro Monteagudo Tes secret Castro agents Are keeping tensions seen it Many times in Cuba. A big crowd that is 4 is moved by just a few people who spread re these Are professional agitators he said my of these people spent Long years in prison. They Kry Well educated. They Don t have the slightest Tow the Ball bounces in the United j and other Leaden Are determined to Stop imps we want to come out of Here with our ing cubans one of the cleanest exile groups a 1880 cuban refugees who survived the some times perilous voyage to Florida must no thread their Way through the immigration Lawson the United states which according to Lega experts make up the most Complex body of fed eral Law after the tax code. The immigration Law is full of waivers exemptions preferences antiquated items and requirements that arc virtually impossible to enforce. The Basic Law is still the immigration and nationality act of 1952, enacted at the height of the cold War under the sponsorship of the late sen. Patrick a. Mccarran of Nevada and the late rep. Francis e. Waller of Pennsylvania. It was passed Over the veto of president Truman who said in no other realm of our National life Are we so hampered and Stul tidied by the dead hand of the past As we Are in this Field of of Congress say that the criticism is still valid today although As sen. Edward m. Kennedy Hassid some of the More blatantly racist and objectionable sections such As immigration quotas based on National origin were repealed in 1965.about the same time Congress was passing major civil rights legislation and ethnic balance was no longer considered a proper goal of immigration policy. In its present form the Law sets an annual limit of 270,000 on the number of persons who May come As immigrants to live permanently in the United states and separately it authorizes admission of 50,000 Refu gees a year. Numbers for immigrants Are allocated among six preference categories within which visas Are Dislis Fulcd on a first come first served basis. Four categories provide for the reunification of families two categories provide visas for persons with special Job skills. The refugee act of 1980, signed by president Carter on March 17, increased the number of Refu gees from 17,400 to 50,000 a year described As the Normal flow based on recent experience. The president May after formal consultations with Congress allow in additional refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United the permanent immigration salutes containing Many restrictive provisions have never been adequate for Deal ing with refugees. So Congress in response to one Emer gency Afler another has repeatedly passed special legis Lalion to admit refugees outside the framework of the immigration Law. The new refugee act created for the first Lime a regular procedure for admitting and reset lying cubans and haitians coming ashore at key Wesl fla., in Small boats obviously have not been screened to determine whether they Mel the definition of refugees. Most arc expected to seek Asylum in a separate Calegory for which there is no numerical limit. It could Lake Many months to resolve their Legal status to be granted Asylum a person already in the United states must Mecl the definition of refugee. An Amend men to the 1952 Law defined refugees As those fleeing communist dominated countries or the Middle Easl because of persecution. In the 1980 Law Congress sought to remove outmoded geographical and ideological considerations by defining a refugee As any person who has been persecuted or has a Well founded fear of persecution should he return to his Law covers persecution on account of race Reli Gion nationality political opinion or membership in a particular social group. The of Eccl of the new definition is thai persons fleeing from right Wing As Well As from left Wing regimes Are now eligible to be refugees. Over the years attorneys general hate liberally used a discretionary parole Power to admit groups of refugees outside the numerical restrictions of the immigration Law. The Power was first used in the Eisenhower administration to admit 38,000 hungarian refugees and has since been used to admin cubans indochinese Soviel jews and of hrs. In passing inc new refugee Law Congress made Clear that the parole Power was no longer to be used to Admi groups of refugees although it could be used in individual cases. There is no numerical limit on the immigration of persons who Are immediate relatives of . Citizens. Immediate relatives Are defined by Law to include the children and spouses of . Citizens and the parents of citizens who arc at least 21 years old. Cubans who Are immediate relatives of american Citi Zens could Ihus come Here under Normal immigration Law. Foreigners have extensive Legal rights As soon As icy arrive on . Soil whether As Legal or illegal aliens. They May Challenge a deportation order by going to inc Board of immigration appeals the . Court of appeals and ultimately the supreme court. In addition foreigners who legally entered the uni cd slates for a temporary visit whether As students tourists businessmen or parolees May under certain conditions apply for permission to become permanent Resi dents. They have no Grealer Legal right to become permanent residents than if they were abroad but in practice once they arc in the United Stales it is difficult for the government to expel them. This is particularly the Case for the latest cuban refugees whom the Castro govern Cal probably would nol Lake Back. Permanent residents have most of the rights of citizens including the right to bring in relatives through the preference system and they Are eligible to become citizens after living in the country five years. The state department says it gels four million visa applications a year from people who want to immigrate to the United states. Rum a form life Canh vre out Ink to do win we the stars and stripes Page 15
