Speech #1020052922

The registration period for the Salvadoran temporary status began on January 2. 1991. From the beginning there was confusion and controversy regarding the registration fee. The Salvadoran TPS Program authorizes the Immigration and Naturalization Service to establish a reasonable fee. taking Into account their costs in running the program. Interim Regulations published by INS on January 7 set the fee at $330 per person for the life of the program. namely 18 months. This fee was per Individual. with no family fee cap. After numerous concerned parties complained that the fee was unaffordable for many persons. Immigration Service Commissioner Gene NcNary agreed on February 6 that the fees had been set too high. Unfortunately. regulations to lower the fees were not promulgated until May 22. just 5 weeks before the end of the program. Currently. the Salvadoran temporary protected status fee Is $75 for registration and $60 for an employment authorization card. These fees are onetime only. Moreover. a family cap of $225 has been established. As of today. approximately 85.000 Salvadorans have applied for temporary protected status. Although no one knows how many Salvadorans may in theory be eligible for TPS. a safe guess Is somewhere between 300.000 and 500.000. When legislation was marked up last Congress. the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 60 percent of the eligible Salvadoran population would register. As we can see. the current total of some 85.000 comes nowhere near that percentage. By way of comparison. it Is interesting to note that in designating nationals of Kuwait. Lebanon. and Liberia for temporary protected status. the Attorney General established application periods that are coterminous with the benefits periods. For each group. benefits are provided until March 27. 1992 and the application period runs until that date as well. Thus. the Salvadoran Program. even under H.R. 2332 will have a registration period and a benefits period shorter than those of the other states I have mentioned which quality for temporary protected status. Mr. Speaker.