Immigration Equality Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force/L.A. c/o L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center / Legal Services 1625 North Schrader Boulevard / Los Angeles, CA 90028-9998 voice: 213.526.2915 / fax: 213.993.7653 / e-mail: lgirtf@abacus.oxy.edu web: http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration/lgirtfla.html NEWSLETTER: December 1997 NEXT MEMBERSHIP MEETING SET FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 9 at 7pm The next meeting of Immigration Equality will be on the second Tuesday of the month--Tuesday December 9--at 7pm at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center (1625 North Schrader Boulevard in Hollywood, two blocks west of Cahuenga Boulevard and one-half block south of Hollywood Boulevard). We will be meeting in Room 204 (on the second floor) in the library of the Legal Services Department. NEW AMNESTY PROGRAM ENACTED FOR NICARAGUANS AND CUBANS If you are a citizen of Nicaragua or Cuba and you arrived before 1995, there is good news. Congress has passed an amnesty program which means that regardless of your current immigration status you are eleigible to become a legal permanent resident. To discuss if you qualify for this program call 213.993.7670 x773 to make an appointment with a lawyer. MORE LENIENT RULES FOR GUATEMALANS, SALVADORANS & EASTERN EUROPEANS The U.S. Congress also passed new rules which allow Guatemalans, Salvadorans and 'Eastern Europeans' to apply for suspension of deportation under the former more lenient rules which applied before the 1996 Immigration Law. The new law raised the residency requirement from 7 years to 10 years, and removed consideration of hardship to the immigrant. DEADLINE SET: 245(i) PROVISION WILL EXPIRE JANUARY 14, 1998 President Clinton has signed legislation into law which extends the deadline for which applicants will be eligible to use the 245(i) provision. If you file an I-130 (family-based visa petition) or labor certification (employment-based visa petition) by January 14, 1998 then when your visa becomes available you can pay a $1000 fine and adjust your status to legal permanent residence without having to leave the country. Of course, you have to be eligible to file an application for legal residency. NATURALIZATION WORKSHOP SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 18 The monthly workshop to assist eligible permanent residents to become U.S. citizens will be held on Thursday December 8 at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. For more information, call 213.993.7670 x773 MMIGRATION EQUALITY CONTINUES EMERGENCY ASYLUM CAMPAIGN The Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force and International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission are currently implementing a campaign to raise awareness about the April 1, 1998 deadline to file asylum claims based on sexual orientation persecution if you entered the U.S. before April 1, 1997. To that end, thousands of bright yellow postcards have been printed up which should be distributed wherever gay and lesbian immigrants can see them. Contact the Immigration Equality hotline at 213.526.2915 if you are interested in participating in the campaign. YOU CAN HELP WITH RESEARCH ON LESBIAN AND GAY IMMIGRATION Lionel Cantu, longtime IE member, is a PhD student at UC Irvine, writing his thesis on lesbian and gay immigrants. To facilitate his research, Lionel has designed an anonymous questionnaire that he would like IE members to complete and return to him. Available in both English and Spanish, the questionnaire can be picked up at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Legal Services Department in Room 202. You can also contact Lionel directly at 714.824.4133 or lcantu@orion.oac.uci.edu IMMIGRATION RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON THE WEB The Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force, our parent organization has a website at http://www.lgirtf.org/ The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which has an Asylum Project, is at http://www.iglhrc.org/ The American Immigration Lawyers Association has a very useful website at http://www.aila.org/ Also, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has its official website at http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/ The law firm of Siskind et al has launched a website which has copies of actual INS forms at http://www.visalaw.com/ The Canadian law firm of SMITH & HUGHES has an OUT/LAW Immigration site at http://www.smith-hughes.com/olimm.htm The Queer Resources Directory, the oldest queer internet archive, has a section devoted to immigration at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration Also Available: The Queer Immigration mailing list, QI@abacus.oxy.edu, is a mailing list devoted to the dissemination of information about the impact of immigration laws on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender individuals. To subscribe, send the one-line email message (leave the Subject blank) to Majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu with the command subscribe qi.