By FRANK DAVIES
             Herald Staff Writer

             WASHINGTON -- One of the best ways that U.S. officials can help rebuild
             Central America after the devastation of Hurricane Mitch is to allow about
             240,000 Guatemalans and Salvadorans in legal limbo to stay in the United States
             and send money back home, immigration advocates argued Wednesday.

             Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican and architect of a 1997 law to
             protect Central Americans' status, and the National Immigration Forum used the
             end of President Clinton's trip to the region to urge the administration to grant relief
             to people from those two countries.

             ``These are not illegal aliens, and they have every right to apply for permanent
             residence,'' Diaz-Balart said. ``That was clearly the intent of the law.''

             That law provided blanket amnesty to some Cubans and Nicaraguans, but was
             less explicit about others, such as 190,000 Salvadorans and 50,000 Guatemalans
             who fled their countries during the civil wars of the 1980s.

             Diaz-Balart and senators who worked on the legislation, including Republican
             Connie Mack and Democrat Bob Graham of Florida, said it was supposed to
             offer people from those nations ``a fair and equitable opportunity'' to demonstrate
             that they can stay in the United States.

             But regulations approved by the Immigration and Naturalization Service last fall
             are restrictive, requiring proof on a case-by-case basis that deportation would
             cause ``extreme hardship'' to an individual -- a process that can be costly and
             time-consuming.

             Rep. Lamar Smith, D-Texas, who chairs the House immigration subcommittee,
             has argued that Guatemalans and Salvadorans do not have ``a presumption of
             extreme hardship'' in the 1997 law and that its backers are trying to rewrite
             legislative history.

             ``That's Rep. Smith's interpretation, and I respectfully disagree with it,''
             Diaz-Balart said.

             Immigration advocates say the administration should ``generously interpret'' the
             law, and cite the damage wrought by Mitch as a good reason for allowing Central
             Americans to stay and send money to their relatives.

             ``It's not too late for the administration to do the right thing,'' said Frank Sharry,
             executive director of the Forum. He cited studies showing that Salvadorans sent
             home $1.2 billion in 1997 -- a sum greater than all the U.S. aid to the entire region
             after the hurricane.

             A Salvadoran who fled her country with her family nine years ago attended a
             Capitol Hill press conference to plead for permanent residence.

             ``I love living in America and the opportunities for my two children are here,'' said
             a tearful Delores Ventura, 23, who lives in Maryland.

             Graham, who accompanied Clinton on part of his trip, lobbied the President to
             provide relief for the Guatemalans and Salvadorans, a member of the senator's
             staff said Wednesday.

             e-mail: fdavies@krwashington.com
 

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