WASHINGTON, Feb 2: The Bush administration has agreed to extend the registration period for Pakistanis for 30 to 40 days and to take steps to avoid a large-scale deportation.
An official announcement is soon expected, diplomatic and US sources told Dawn.
They said that those who had applied for adjustment of their status under a general amnesty offered by the Clinton administration would also be accommodated.
There are two types of people under this category; those who applied for labour certification and their cases are still in the Labour Department and those whose cases are now with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Those still in the Labour Department will not be ordered to leave the country right away. Instead they will be given six months to a year to appear before a judge and fix their status.
Those who have already been certified by the Labour Department and their cases are now with the INS will not face deportation proceedings. When they appear for registration, they will be asked to reappear after some time for review of their 245-I amnesty applications.
INS officials will also be lenient in dealing with those on student, professional and work visas (J-1, F-1 and H-1).
Minor violations by students, such as on the campus jobs without authorization or missing a few classes, will be ignored. Similar concessions will also be given to those on work and professional exchange visas.
“This will be a major concession because we were very worried about large-scale deportation of students,” said an embassy official.
On designated days, the INS will allow officials of the Pakistani Mission to be present in their offices during registration.
“They will not be able to watch the registration but they will be informed if someone is detained and those Pakistanis who want to approach them will be able to discuss their problems with the embassy staff,” said the embassy official.
But there will be no reprieve for those who do not have legal grounds for adjusting their status or have not yet applied for legalising their cases.
“They face deportation. Even lawyers cannot help them,” says Rubina Syed, a lawyer who offers free advice to Pakistani nationals at the embassy every Wednesday along with two other lawyers, Abdur Razzaq, Rabia Chaudhry and Rizwan.
Syed said that some lawyers were claiming they could prevent deportation and were charging as much as $10,000 a case. “I would advise those who do not have a legal ground for adjustment of status, not to waste their money. Go home and apply for a visa at the US embassy there. You may have a better chance,” she said.
