The Reagan Administration opposes proposed legislation (Senate 377) that would provide special assistance, including temporary stays of deportation, for El Salvadoran nationals illegally in the United States. First, such legislation will accomplish nothing that cannot be done better or more equitably under the Refugee Act of 1980, which established a comprehensive system under which any person, regardless of origin, can apply for and receive individual consideration of the merits of his or her claim to asylum or refugee status. Senate (S) 377 would circumvent the basic policy behind the 1980 Act and return to the ad hoc and discriminatory approach of the past. As for claims that S. 377 would eliminate discriminatory Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) policy against Salvadoran asylum applicants, any such claims must be challenged. There is no discrimination against Salvadorans. Asylum applications that demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution are granted. Those that are poorly documented or patently frivolous are not. A second reason for the Administration's opposition to S. 377 is that it will undermine enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It will have a magnet effect, encouraging high levels of continuing illegal entry from Central America. It is unlikely that after expiration of the temporary stays, the Salvadorans will return home voluntarily or the INS will be able to locate and remove them. Thus, the Senate should consider S. 377 in the total immigration context and not support it. (KH)