Those instructions were put out last summer, if I recall correctly. We're asking our officers, when they face a situation where people are coming for humanitarian reasons, a funeral or something like that, to exercise as much sympathy as they can in considering a visa. If they cannot consider a visa, the instructions also remind them that they have the authority to issue a permit, even though they think they may be taking a risk doing that. Yes, our officers are doing that. I don't have data on it, but I know that officers are exercising more discretion, both in visa issuance and permit issuance.
On May 17th, 2006. See this statement in context.