OCEANSIDE — Legal U.S. residence status was no longer a problem for Benito Ortega, a longtime undocumented field hand here who received legal residence last year via the farm worker amnesty program.

But Ortega, like so many other newly legalized immigrants, was left with the dilemma of what to do with his wife and six children in Mexico. The amnesty law made no automatic provision to allow undocumented kin into the United States. Because the law fails to address the issue, it left amnesty migrants like Ortega with choices that were either unacceptable to him or to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He could take up residence in the United States, leaving his family behind for several years before there would any hope of their legal migration to join him. He could rejoin his family in Mexico and periodically travel hundreds of miles to and from jobs in the United States. Or he could keep the job he had, stay where he was and smuggle his family across the border to join him.

Paid Smuggler

For Ortega (not his real name), the choice was obvious. He acknowledged paying a smuggler $1,000 to bring his family across from Tijuana four months ago. If caught and convicted of smuggling, he could face deportation and loss of legal status. But he says the risk is worth it and the money paid to the \o7 coyote \f7 was the best investment he ever made.

More than a decade as a "commuting" undocumented laborer--working in U.S. fields during harvests, back home to Mexico for holidays--convinced him that that was no way to live. "One loses touch with one's family," said Ortega during a recent gathering at an uncle's home in Oceanside. At his side were his wife, Rita, and their six children, ages 3 to 11. "How do I know if one of the children is headed in the wrong direction? My family needs to be here with me."

Employed as a cook in nearby Vista, Ortega says he hopes to remain permanently in the United States. He envisions his children learning English and entering mainstream U.S. society.

Though there are no exact numbers, it is clear that many newly legalized foreigners, particularly those from Mexico, are doing as Ortega did and simply bringing their families into the United States illegally.

Thus, some argue, the landmark 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which created the amnesty program and was aimed at deterring unauthorized entry into the United States, may actually encourage the illegal immigration of some, namely the relatives of amnesty beneficiaries.