The Board of Directors of Zero Population Growth, one of the best known population control organizations in the United States, has issued an important statement regarding US immigration policy. The Board has said that fighting the forces causing people to leave their homes and immigrate is a better goal than cutting immigration. The Board's complete policy statement can be found on Zero Population Growth's web page at http://www.zpg.org/zpgimm.htm.

The Board's policy statement included the following language:

"ZPG, therefore, calls on the United States to focus its foreign aid on population, environmental, social, education, and sustainable development programs. Changing political conditions present opportunities to work cooperatively with other nations to address the root causes of international

migration. Studies show that of the people who emigrate to the United States, the majority would have stayed in their home countries had there been economic opportunities or democratic institutions.

ZPG believes that U.S. immigration policies should focus on reunification of immediate families, and that U.S. refugee policy should reaffirm our commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees. In addition, ZPG supports measures aimed at increasing resources for the Immigration and Naturalization Service so that all immigrants, refugees, and asylees are ensured

timely due process and to enable the U.S. to enforce measures to prevent fraud and other violations of immigration laws.

ZPG also recognizes that there are many issues surrounding the formulation of U.S. immigration policy, including legal, civil rights, economic, cultural, and demographic concerns. Further, ZPG believes that immigrants and refugees should be admitted equitably, without preference to race, national origin, color, religion, gender, or sexual preference."

The INS-issued border crossing cards for Mexican nationals will soon be replaced by State Department issued "laser visa" cards. The cards will only be issued by American embassies and consulates in Mexico. Border Crossing cards allow Mexican nationals living along the 2,000 mile border to travel into the US for business or personal reasons for periods up to seventy-two hours. Card holders are not permitted to accept employment.

The old cards, often called "micas" or "pasaportes locales" will continue to be honored though September 30, 1999, the end of fiscal year 1999. The INS stopped accepting applications for the old cards on February 13th at its border crossing posts and is now directing applicants to apply at an embassy or consulate.

The first laser visas will be issued beginning April 1st by the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez for residents of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Before year's end, all consulates and the US Embassy in Mexico City. The INS will issue temporary cards for people who need a document during the period from February 13th until one of the new cards is available.

The new cards will use compact-disc technology to store information and have security features designed to prevent counterfeiting. While many are promoting the new cards as a new weapon in the fight against fraudulent immigration, immigrant rights organizations have complained about the increased application costs ($45 compared to the current $26 fee) and have expressed skepticism as to the government's ability to absorb the workload. Civil liberty advocates are also worried about government having even more control over the day to day lives of the public.

Congress mandated the replacement of the border crossing card with a new machine-readable card in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Control Act of 1996.

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