By Gretchen Keiser

Guillermo Pacheco, a 26-year-old Guatemalan native who came to the United States when he was 19, is the first person under Catholic Social Services legalization program to receive a temporary residence card.

This step means that paperwork prepared in Atlanta and submitted to the local immigration and Naturalization Service office has been given final approval by the regional INS office in Dallas, TX. Guillermo received his notification September 19, the first to qualify under CSS applications. In the 10 days since, a total of eight people whose cases were prepared by CSS have gotten final approval and an I688 Temporary Residence Card valid for 30 months.

A total of 284 initial applications have been prepared by CSS on behalf of people living in the U.S. illegally who qualify for legalization under a one-year special immigration program. Catholic agencies across the country are serving as bridges between those who are illegal and the INS, taking a first look at paperwork and documents and helping people to determine whether or not they qualify under the one-year program. In the archdiocese of Atlanta, the staff hopes to gain legalization for about 1,000 people. So far, none of their applicants whose paperwork has been submitted to INS has been rejected.

If the paperwork is approved in Atlanta, INS issues the person a work authorization card, valid for six months. During that time, the application is sent to Dallas where an investigation of the case is made. Catholic Social Services has acquired over 250 work authorization cards to date and now has begun to receive news of their acceptance in Dallas.

A student in the University in Guatemala, Guillermo came to Los Angeles in December, 1980, seeing the U.S. as a place of great opportunity. He left his mother and a married sister behind in Guatemala, but his mother joined him in 1982. They moved to Georgia in 1986, where Guillermo works for a painting firm. She also qualifies for legalization as part of his family. While the move to the United States was more difficult than he expected, particularly learning the language, Guillermo said coming to Georgia, where he has made friends and met people, has made him happy. This is still a place of "opportunity for everybody," he says, and he has never had difficulty finding work, although he has had to adjust to the American style of homemaking where people, by and large, do their own cooking and cleaning, in addition to their jobs.

"I feel good now working for me and for my mother," he said. His greatest thrill in receiving his temporary residence card is that he will be able to visit his family in Guatemala whom he has not seen since he left his homeland.

The program of assisting people who qualify for amnesty will continue at CSS until May, 1988. Volunteers are still needed to help, especially since sanctions have gone into effect against employers who employ illegal aliens and the move has drastically increased the number of people applying for amnesty. Many qualify, but need help understating and filling out the necessary forms during this critical time period. To help, call CSS at 404-881-6571.