[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31167-31168]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14386]



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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Immigration and Naturalization Service
[INS No. 1722-95]


Discontinuation of the Nicaraguan Review Process

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: this notice announces the termination of the special review 
procedures under which the files of Nicaraguan nationals subject to 
final deportation orders were subject to [[Page 31168]] mandatory 
review by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the 
Office of the Deputy Attorney General. Changes in country conditions in 
Nicaragua coupled with improvements in the asylum adjudications process 
have rendered these special procedures unnecessary. Cases of affected 
individuals will be handled individually under normal procedures to 
decide whether any factors permit them to remain in the United States.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 13, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert A. Jacobson, Director, Policy Development and Special Programs 
Branch, Detention and Deportation Division, Immigration and 
Naturalization Service, 425 I Street NW., Room 3008, Washington, D.C. 
20536, telephone (202) 514-2871.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In 1987, then Attorney General Meese initiated the Nicaraguan 
Review Program (NRP). Under these special procedures, the INS and 
Department of Justice (DOJ) reviewed the case of each Nicaraguan who 
had received a final deportation order to ensure that no Nicaraguan 
with a well founded fear of persecution was deported unless it was 
determined that the person had engaged in serious criminal activity or 
posed a danger to the national security.
    The INS reviewed the country conditions in Nicaragua and considered 
the need for continued specialized review. The INS concluded that the 
political situation in Nicaragua and the United States government's 
asylum adjudications procedures had improved to such an extent that it 
was no longer necessary to have a special review of every final order 
of deportation involving a Nicaraguan national. Therefore, the INS 
requested that the Attorney General discontinue the NRP. Attorney 
General Janet Reno approved the termination of the NRP. Accordingly, 
all DOJ and INS implementing and procedural NRP memoranda and wires are 
hereby rescinded. The INS Headquarters is issuing a directive notifying 
its field offices that Nicaraguans are no longer subject to special 
review under the NRP.

Future Consideration of Cases

    Cases of Nicaraguan nationals under deportation or exclusion 
proceedings will receive no further special review. Nicaraguan cases 
will be handled under normal procedures, on a case-by-case basis. Each 
case will receive all appropriate consideration consistent with 
applicable law and regulations. Due regard will be given to any 
existing equities or immigration benefits which might accrue to the 
specific alien involved.
    Nicaraguan nationals affected by the termination of the NRP may be 
eligible to apply for suspension of deportation pursuant to section 244 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1254 if they (1) 
have been present in the United States for at least 7 years (10 years 
in the case of certain criminal aliens), (2) are persons of good moral 
character, and (3) are persons whose deportation would pose an extreme 
hardship to themselves or to their spouse, parent, or child who is 
either a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident. To apply 
for such relief, aliens with final orders must file a motion to reopen 
with the immigration judge pursuant to 8 CFR 3.23 and 242.22 or the 
Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) pursuant to citations 8 CFR 3.2 and 
3.8.
    Nicaraguans have no need to fear immediate expulsion from the 
United States as a group. Discontinuation of the NRP will not cause 
Nicaraguans to be targeted as a group or treated as a special class for 
any enforcement activity.

Work Authorization

    As the work authorization of individual Nicaraguans with final 
deportation orders expires, the INS will review requests for renewal on 
a case-by-case basis. Work authorization will not be extended 
automatically due to the termination of the NRP. Moreover, the 
regulatory authority under which many Nicaraguans whose cases were 
under review by the NRP received employment authorization, 8 CFR 
274a.12(c)(13), was eliminated as a result of new asylum regulations 
which became effective on January 4, 1995.
    Nicaraguans and other persons who now have work authorization and 
who filed asylum applications before January 4, 1995, may obtain 
extensions of this authorization while their applications are pending 
adjudication or review by the INS, an immigration judge, the BIA, or a 
Federal court. Those who file asylum applications after January 4, 
1995, must wait 150 days after their applications are filed to apply 
for work authorization.
    Transitional criteria, however, will apply for 1 year from the date 
of this notice to some employment authorization requests from 
Nicaraguans affected by termination of the NRP. Specifically, the INS 
will treat the filing of a motion to reopen deportation proceedings 
accompanied by an application for suspension of deportation as a 
sufficient basis upon which such a person may apply for work 
authorization. In such cases, work authorization may be granted upon a 
finding that the alien has met the physical presence requirement for 
suspension of deportation.

    Dated: June 6, 1995.
Doris Meissner,
Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service.
[FR Doc. 95-14386 Filed 6-8-95; 8:45 am]
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