Subject: NCCA: REPORT ON CSPA IMPLEMENTATION (fwd)

From: Jun Wu <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 94 22:01:05 CST

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     NCCA:     REPORT ON CSPA IMPLEMENTATION AND EXPIRATION OF
                    THE EXECUTIVE ORDER

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          DATE:     January 18,  1994

          TO:       Chinese Nationals Nationwide

          FROM:     Dr. Haiching Zhao
                    National Council on Chinese Affairs

     In the last few months, we have worked extensively on the
issue of CSPA interim rules.  The following is a summary of the
current situation regarding CSPA implementation.

     (I) OUR LOBBYING ACTIVITIES

     On September 7, 1993, NCCA sent a letter to the Department of
Justice once again raising our concerns regarding the interim
regulations.  The issues we raised included:
     (1) CSPA dependents should be under the worldwide quota
         instead of the China quota;
     (2) DED dependents eligible to adjust status in the U.S.;
     (3) 90-Day applicants eligible for case-by-case review;
     (4) Dependents over 21-year be judged at the time of filing;
     (5) Waiver of birth certificate evidence for dependents.

     Subsequently, we had a series of conversations with high level
administration officials regarding CSPA implementation.

     On December 7, 1993, NCCA received a response letter from
Phyllis Coven, Assistant to Attorney General from the Justice
Department.  In that letter, it was stated that the Justice
Department and the INS were still unwilling to put CSPA dependents
under the worldwide quota.  As a result, dependents will have to
wait under China country quota and some children may be over 21-
year by the time they can adjust.

     We also strongly feel that DED dependents should not be deemed
to have lost legal status.  However, INS maintains that DED
dependents are not directly covered by CSPA and therefore will have
to go to a third country for immigrant visa processing.

     Finally, the Justice Department letter refused to consider 90-
day applications on a case-by-case basis even if the applicant has
a legitimate reason for delaying.

     NCCA was dissatisfied with the letter from the Justice
Department.  In addition, there is another problem resulted from
the expiration of the Executive Order.  Many principal pending
applicants had their previous work authorization through Executive
Order.  When they filed CSPA applications back in July, they did
not anticipate a long delay and therefore did not file a separate
work permit application.  Upon expiration of the DED by January 1,
1994, many people would not have a legal work permit, some had
their pay-roll suspended.  In addition, many people have
encountered a variety of difficulties due to the lack of the
approval notices, such as inability to travel, to enroll into
school properly, etc.

     Therefore, on December 22, 1993, we had a meeting with
officials in the White House in charge of Multinational Affairs and
Domestic Affairs.  We emphasized on particularly two issues.  One
is the improvement of CSPA interim rule.  The other is about the
fact that many CSPA's principal applications are still pending.
Upon expiration of the Executive Order as of January 1,  1994.
Many people would have no legal work authorization.  And all 90-day
people would lose status before we could resolve the matter with
the Administration.  We proposed an extension of the Executive
Order until June 30, 1994, so that there would be enough time for
the final regulations to issue and for all to apply for CSPA
benefits.

     In response to our request, the Administration arranged what
they termed "a super tele-conference" on December 29, 1993.
Present were Phyllis Coven from the Justice Department; Paul
Virtue, Acting General Counsel of the INS; Larry Weinig, INS
Associate Commissioner for Examinations; Laura Reiff, Elaine Budd
and myself.  We reviewed all our concerns once again about the
expiration of the Executive Order as well as the work authorization
problem and other problems related to CSPA implementation.
Subsequently, we were told that according to INS, there are about
4,000 pending CSPA principal applicants in the East Regional Center
alone who have not received their approval notices.  Most of these
cases were due to request for additional information such as
resubmitting of finger print card, and also due to the fact that
since last October, the INS regional center has put CSPA pending
applicants into lower priority in their processing and instead has
concentrated on other non-CSPA cases.

     On December 30th, we were told by the Administration officials
that they have decided to direct INS Regional Service Centers to
put CSPA pending principal cases as priority and expedite all CSPA
principal applications.  The Regional Centers were directed to
complete all CSPA adjudication in the month of January.  This will
certainly help those whose Executive Order work authorization
expired on 1/1/94.  In addition, for those that qualify for CSPA
but were in DED and have not yet filed, if you run into any
problems with INS you will be allowed to file your CSPA application
before any deportation actions are taken against you.

     We believed that this is an acceptable compromise.  On one
hand, it solves the problems of many pending CSPA applications; on
the other hand, it solves the major problems such as work
authorization resulted from expiration of the DED without actually
extending the DED program which INS has a hard time to set a
precedent.

     (II) CURRENT SITUATION

     In regard to the CSPA dependent issue, we have encountered
increasing difficulties in achieving satisfactory results.  The
reasons are:

     1) In the U.S. domestic political arena, we have been against
a strong anti-immigration tide.  There are members of Congress,
officials and different interest groups fighting against us from
including any more people into CSPA.  All these make the
Administration very reluctant to make decision in our favor that
may offend other groups.

     2) We have lost tremendous momentum since July 1, 1993, when
the interim rule issued and a large number of principals were
covered.  Before the interim rule was issued, the pressure was on
the Administration to satisfy our need as a whole community in
order to ensure smooth implementation of CSPA.  Now, that pressure
has been released from the Administration and it is upon us to
appeal to the Administration to give us more.

     3) Our own voice has been dramatically weaker.  The total
number of late-arriving dependents is somewhere from 6,000 to
10,000.  This force can not be compared with close to 80,000
principals, and consequently draws a lot less attention from U.S.
policy makers.  In addition, this dependent group tend to be less
organized, less active and consequently with less power to make a
difference.

     Currently, the INS is drafting the final regulations which
supposed to be issued sometimes in February.  This would be the
only hope, if any, for the dependent issue to be resolved.

     What we have accomplished this time is the solution related to
the expiration of the Executive Order, such as pending applications
and work authorization.

     (III) FUTURE PROSPECTS AND COMMENTS

     We continue to believe that the best solution regarding the
late-arriving dependent issue is to lobby the Administration to
change in the final regulations 1) to cover the dependents under
the worldwide quota; 2) to maintain legal status for DED dependents
and 3) to grant case-by-case review policy for 90-Day cases, as
well as waiving birth certificate for dependents and the issue of
21-year children.  Even though these are our goals, as stated above
of the difficulties, we advise people to be prepared for not so
perfect results.

     We are now working closely with members of Congress and the
Administration in hopes of resolving these issues.  We will keep
you informed.  Many people have realized the importance of getting
organized and maintain a strong voice for the interest of our own
community.  Many have participated and contributed by continuing
donation to NCCA.  We want to take this opportunity to thank those
who have supported us in the past.  You can also help our effort by
making your donation or pledge to: NCCA and send to:

     National Council on Chinese Affairs
     P.O. Box 77418
     Washington, D.C. 20013-7418

     Two additional comments:

     (1) Some people have asked the distinction between NCCA and
the NCS Corporation.  NCCA is a non-profit organization, conducting
lobbying activities for the political interest of the Chinese
nationals in the U.S.  It operates on public donations and grants.

     NCS Corporation (National Chinese Service Corporation) was
formed out of the tremendous need from the Chinese community to
provide a variety of high-quality professional services.  It was in
comply to U.S. Tax code and organized as a professional private
enterprise.  Its goal is to create economic opportunities for the
Chinese community in the U.S.  It has continued to provide
immigration related legal services.  Recently, with its great
resources, it obtained a favorable contract with Northwest Airlines
to provide Chinese nationals with flexible travel programs to/from
Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.  The discounted prices for
Northwest Airlines tickets to China are up to 40%. It is the best
price and best service in the current travel market.  For more
information regarding NCS travel program and other NCS services,
please call (202) 434-8187.

     (2) Some people also have asked the distinction between NCCA
and IFCSS.  Since 1989, many of us, myself included, have been very
active in the first three years of IFCSS activities.  Since then,
many have moved on in their career from students to become
professionals.  However, the need to maintain a strong voice on
public policy has not diminished, but rather becoming increasingly
stronger.  Out of this context, NCCA (National Council on Chinese
Affairs) was formed to reach out for a broader Chinese nationals
community.  It is an independent non-profit organization.  The
basic goals of NCCA are mainly threefold:
     (1) To promote human rights improvements and political reform
in China;
     (2) To encourage and facilitate the development of a free
market economy in China;
     (3)To protect the rights and interests of the Chinese
community which includes Chinese nationals and overseas Chinese in
the U.S.

/end