NACARA
 Sometimes
individuals would like to remain in their homeland but because of severe
political strife, staying in their native country may result in
endangering their lives and the lives of loved ones. This is what happened in
the 1980s with many Nicaraguans. Their country was in a civil war and many fled
to the United States seeking political asylum. Throughout the years many other nationals from
around the world have faced a similar situation and made the decision to leave
their homeland. In 1985 a lawsuit was brought about because Salvadorans and
Guatemalans believed the INS (currently known as the USCIS) was discriminating
against their asylum applications. Refugee advocacy organizations along with
some religious organizations filed a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was
officially known as American Baptist Churches versus Thornburgh, or the "ABC" lawsuit. The lawsuit was
filed against the United States Department of State (DOS), the
Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
The plaintiffs in the case were narrowed down to a select group of Salvadoran
and Guatemalan nationals by a federal judge. The main allegation made in the
lawsuit was discrimination against asylum
applicants from El Salvador and Guatemala. Five years later the class action
lawsuit was settled and the following year the agreement was approved by a
federal court. The final ruling dictated that an eligible class member would be granted an asylum
interview after registering for benefits and applying for asylum by the
agreed-upon deadline. Other provisions included specific eligible class members and
details on employment
authorization.
Due to the ruling in favor of asylum applicants, many eligible Salvadorans and
Guatemalans rushed to apply for
asylum. However, due to eligibility
requirements, not all refugees were applicable. A Guatemalan national was to have been physically in the
United States on or before October 1, 1990, and must have registered for
ABC benefits on or before December 31, 1991. Lastly, they must have filed an
asylum application on or before January 3, 1995. The INS
became inundated with asylum applications. It is estimated that from fiscal year 1990 to fiscal year 1995, about
150,000 new asylum applications were filed. President Bill Clinton responded by
approving NACARA or the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central Relief Act in 1997.
This not only benefited Salvadorans and Nicaraguans but extended to other
nationals as well. NACARA would provide protection from removal or deportation
for nationals of specific Central America and Soviet bloc countries. The
protection would be given to individuals and their dependents that came to the
United States as asylees. The countries included El Salvador, Guatemala,
Nicaragua and Cuba. The eligible Soviet bloc countries included: Albania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Romania, Russia, the Soviet Union, any former republic of the Soviet Union,
Yugoslavia and any former state of Yugoslavia. NACARA was divided into Section
202 and Section 203. Section 202 addresses Nicaraguans and Cubans whereas
Section 202 addresses Guatemalans, Salvadorans and ex-Soviet Union nationals.
Under NACARA certain family members like a spouse, child, unmarried daughter or
unmarried son were also eligible.
Once an individual is granted relief under NACARA they are also granted lawful
permanent resident status. Today NACARA Section 203 is still in effect but is
only open to certain applicants. Individuals must fall into one of five categories and
must never have been convicted of an aggravated felony. The first and second categories
refer to Salvadorans and Guatemalans. If an individual is a Salvadoran or
Guatemalan national they must meet the previous requirements mentioned and not
have been detained at the time of entry after December 19, 1990. They can only
apply with the USCIS if the final decision on their asylum application has not
been made. If the individual is in deportation or
removal proceedings then they
may turn in an initial application to the Immigration Court. The third category
makes reference to nationals of the former Soviet bloc. They must have entered
the U.S. on or before December 31, 1990 and must have filed an
asylum
application on or before December 31, 1991. They can only apply if they
have not received a final decision on their asylum application. The final two
categories deal with eligible family members and former Soviet bloc nationals
subjected to cruelty or battery by individuals who make up the first three
categories. Requirements for these last two are more complicated. The NACARA
application fee is currently $285 per individual or $570 for families applying
in a single package. From June 1999 to January 2007 about 55,000 Guatemalan have
applied under NACARA and slightly more than 43,000 were granted relief.
Thousands other applications remain pending at this moment. There are about
4,000 applications pending for Guatemalans alone.
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