Expired Law Creates Loophole for Illegals

June 18, 2002

NEW YORK — Some politicians on Capitol Hill want to reinstate an expired immigration law that allows illegal immigrants to apply for permanent residency status.


The law, called 245i, was first enacted in 1994 and allowed all illegal immigrants to apply to become permanent residents. First they had to find a sponsor, an immediate family member here legally or an employer, then pass an INS background check and pay $1,000.

Nearly 1.5 million illegal immigrants have become legal under 245i, nearly 12,000 of them from countries considered sponsors of terrorism.

Rabih Haddad, the Lebanese-born head of the Global Relief Foundation, had begun the application process when the government linked him and the charity he ran to Al Qaeda. He's now in INS custody.

However, the majority of immigrants are like Astou Diop. She came to the U.S. as a tourist from Senegal, leaving her husband and two children behind for a better life in America.

Once her tourist visa expired, she stayed and became one of more than 8 million illegal aliens in the U.S. But she knew she was breaking the law.

"[It] is a good country, you can have good opportunity, you can work, help your family, have a good life," she said. "You are free in this country."

"Yes, sometimes I say I'm guilty," she said. "I don't want to do that. I have to respect the law."

But she didn't. She stayed here illegally for nearly nine years and eventually got her green card with the help of attorney Michael Wildes and 245i.

In this more security-conscious world, critics call the law a major breach.

"This section of the law, 245i, is a creeping loophole that is a security threat to the country and has frankly crowded out people who play by the rules," the Federation for American Immigration Reform's Dan Stein said.

But some politicians want to reinstate the law, including Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, and the White House and others who say it's pro-family.

"It reunites families, it allows hard workers to stay in their jobs to contribute to the American economy and, basically, it's a system that allows people to become legal immigrants and [puts them] on the path to U.S. citizenship," said Frank Sharry, of the National Immigration Forum.

If the measure is reinstated, thousands of illegals already here would have a chance to stay, leaving others in far-off countries — like the rest of Diop's family — left to play by the rules, waiting for their chance to live in America too.

Heather Nauert contributed to this report.
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