This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [log in to unmask] /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Let NYTimes.com Come to You Sign up for one of our weekly e-mails and the news will come directly to you. YOUR MONEY brings you a wealth of analysis and information about personal investing. CIRCUITS plugs you into the latest on personal technology. TRAVEL DISPATCH offers you a jump on special travel deals and news. http://email.nytimes.com/email/email.jsp?eta5 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Bush Proposes Giving Immigrants More Time to Make Status Legal By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS ASHINGTON, May 1 — President Bush urged Congress today to extend an April 30 deadline on legislation that allowed many illegal immigrants to apply for legal residency without first having to return to their country of origin. Mr. Bush said that about 200,000 immigrants who had been eligible to file to adjust their status failed to do so in time. He blamed, in part, the government's failure to issue instructions until late March on how the provision would be carried out. Tens of thousands of illegal foreigners poured into immigration centers and lawyers' offices on Monday to take advantage of the provision — Section 245(i) — in the final hours before the deadline. Many left confused or frustrated by paperwork or their encounters with immigration officials. The provision allows illegal immigrants to apply for residency while remaining in the United States, provided they pay a $1,000 penalty. Normally, immigrants are required to apply at American consulates in their home countries. But that poses a risk: illegal immigrants to the United States may be barred from returning for up to 10 years. Immigration officials predicted that more than 600,000 immigrants would seek to take advantage of the provision. Applicants are required to be sponsored by an employer or a close family member. In a letter to Congressional leaders, Mr. Bush said his request for an extension would aid families that had been divided by immigration barriers or fear of deportation. "I encourage the Congress to consider whether there was adequate time for persons eligible under Section 245(i) to apply for adjustment of status before the filing deadline expired yesterday," Mr. Bush wrote. "It remains in our national interest to legitimize those resident immigrants, eligible for legal status, and to welcome them as full participants of our society," he added. The president did not say how long he would like the extension to be. One bill, which is sponsored by the New York Representatives Peter T. King, a Republican, and Eliot L. Engel, a Democrat, seeks a six-month extension. "I'm really delighted that he's requested it," said Mr. Engel, who estimated that 75 percent of the work in his district offices — which include the Bronx — involves immigration. "There are so many families separated, and I think we should do something to reunite them," Mr. Engel said. Mr. Bush said his action had grown out of talks with Mexican officials on immigration matters to "ensure a more orderly, legal and humane migration flow between our countries." http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/02/politics/02INS.html?ex=989829215&ei=1&en=53ebab4576d7c417 /-----------------------------------------------------------------\ Visit NYTimes.com for complete access to the most authoritative news coverage on the Web, updated throughout the day. Become a member today! It's free! http://www.nytimes.com?eta \-----------------------------------------------------------------/ HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson Racer at [log in to unmask] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [log in to unmask] Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------