[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E64-E65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TIME FOR HAITIANS, NICARAGUANS AND CENTRAL AMERICANS TO ADJUST THEIR 
                     STATUS UNDER HRIFA AND NACARA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2000

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today, I introducing a bill to 
extend the time for eligible Hatians, Nicaraguans, and Central 
Americans to apply to adjust their status and become permanent 
residents under the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 
[HRIFA] and the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act 
[NACARA]
  My bill would extend the time for eligible persons to apply to adjust 
their status under HRIFA and NACARA to October 1, 2001 or until 12 
months after the date that the INS adopts final regulations 
implementing HRIFA and NACARA, whichever date is later.
  Presently, under HRIFA and NACARA, eligible Haitians, Nicaraguans and 
Central Americans must apply to adjust their status to permanent 
residency by April 1, 2000 or they will lose their right to do so. The 
INS estimates that at least 50,000 Haitians are eligible to adjust 
their status under HRIFA. The Haitian community estimates the number as 
closer to 100,000 people. To date, only about 18,000 eligible Haitians 
have applied. Similarly, there are thousands of qualified Nicaraguans 
and Central Americans who have yet to adjust their status under NACARA.
  Qualified applicants must pay very substantial filing fees to adjust 
their status under HRIFA and NACARA. For large families, these fees can 
amount to thousands of dollars. I have been told of a case where a 
person working full-time, earning a $20,000 income, had to pay over 
$2,000 in filing fees for his family. Many eligible applicants who are 
working are finding it very difficult to come with the filing fees. 
These fees are extremely burdensome. We should be reducing them. At a 
minimum, we should give people more time to earn them.
  Moreover, because of language and cultural barriers, many eligible 
applicants are not even aware of their rights to adjust their status 
under HRIFA and NACARA. Finally, there have been very substantial 
bureaucratic delays in the issuance of regulations implementing HRIFA 
and NACARA. The INS received many public comments on its proposed HRIFA 
and NACARA regulations and these comments are still being reviewed and 
considered.
  To date, final regulations have not been issued under either HRIFA 
and NACARA. As a result, the INS has not even definitively stated the 
standards that will govern its interpretation and implementation of 
HRIFA and NACARA. Simply put, the regulatory climate remains unsettled.
  Mr. Speaker, HRIFA and NACARA were designed to allow eligible 
Haitians, Nicaraguans and Central Americans to become permanent 
residents. We must not allow high filing fees, language or cultural 
barriers, or delays in the issuance of implementing regulations to 
frustrate the intention behind these bills. We need to extend the 
filing deadline to assure that all eligible Haitians, Nicaraguans, and 
Central Americans receive a full and fair opportunity to adjust their 
status.
  We must assure that all eligible persons are fully informed of their 
rights to adjust their status, that they know definitively the final 
regulations under which their rights will be determined, and that they 
receive an adequate period of time to earn the substantial filing fees 
that presently must accompany applications under HRIFA and NACARA.
  Mr. Speaker, Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen, Alcee Hastings and Peter Deutsch are original cosponsors of 
my bill. I urge all my colleagues to support this critically important 
legislation.

[[Page E65]]



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