Fax Campaign at Congressman Pete Stark's Office

[140_takes_4ever]

Congressman Pete Stark is holding a townhall meeting in the month of March. You can follow the details at http://www.immigrationportal.com/sho...65#post708065.

We are trying to raise awareness of our issues and trying to nudge him to raise his voice in our favour in the assembly as well as a private letter to the Director of CSC.

Please join us in sending your fax to his office outlining our motives and our problems with INS.

Congressman Pete Stark

Fremont Office:
39300 Civic Center Dr. Suite 220
Fremont, CA
94538
510-494-1388
Fax: 510-494-5852

Washington, DC:
239 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-5065
Fax: 202-226-3805

[140_takes_4ever]

Plagarized/modified from a post by solarize, originally posted at http://immigrationportal.com/showthr...5&pagenumber=3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ImmigrationPortal.Com
5225 N. Wilson Blvd. Arlington VA 22205
Phone: (703) 908-4800
United for Dignity, Equality and Acceptance


Dear Representative Pete Stark,

I am writing to you regarding my Employment-Based I-485 Adjustment of Status application. The EB I-485 receipt number is WAC-**-***-*****. My alien registration number is ###-###-###. I am extremely concerned regarding the delays in adjudication of I-485 cases at the California Service Center (CSC) of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). According to CSC’s progress report, adjudication for I-485 cases has not shown any progress since 2002. Congress has expressed repeatedly that the reasonable adjudication period is 6 months for immigrant benefit cases. The failure of USCIS to comply with legislations has resulted in a class action lawsuit filed in the District Court of the District of Columbia (Complaint for Mandamus, Declaratory, and Injunctive Relief, Civil Action 03-2606, Judge James Roberson, Filed 22 December 2003).

Even though the USCIS is a government agency, it should never be above the law. Thus, I urge Representative Stark to enforce legislations passed by members of the Congress and hold the USCIS to higher standards of service. I would also like to remind Representative Stark of words by Thomas Jefferson, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The unreasonable delay at the USCIS is unequivocally infringing upon my career and my pursuit of happiness.

Through the internet, I was able to find a group of concerned immigrants whom also filed their I-485s but find themselves in quagmire. Many of us have contacted members of the Congress for assistance. One of us was lucky enough to reach Representative Anna Eshoo and her assistant contacted Don Neufeld, Director of CSC for the USCIS on our behalf. Responding to the I-485 delay, Mr. Neufeld stated that El Salvadoran receiving Temporary Protected Status (TPS) immigrant benefits was prioritized before the I-485 applications and contributed to the delay. It is revolting to think that many legal immigrants such as myself who pay taxes and contribute to the American economy but we are still regarded as low priority by the USCIS. Mr. Neufeld has also promised to reduce the processing time for Adjustment of Status applications (I-485) to 12 months or less by the end of September 2004. I encourage Representative Stark to hold Don Neufeld to his words and improve the service at the CSC. Any further delays and broken promises would only create distrust among government agencies, its elected officials, and the people, whom the elected are supposed to represent.

In summary, I would like to request for Representative Stark’s help to 1) contact the CSC of the USCIS and express frustrations with the I-485 processing delays; and 2) hold Don Neufeld to his promise and obtain specific plans to reduce the I-485 backlogs without more de-prioritizing of I-485 immigrant benefits.

I’m available for any comments at ###-###-####. Thank you for your attention and your time.

[kash777]

Excellent . Please join this fax campaign

[wittAAAA]

I shortened 140's to one page as below.

*************************
ImmigrationPortal.Com
5225 N. Wilson Blvd. Arlington VA 22205
Phone: (703) 908-4800
United for Dignity, Equality and Acceptance

March 1, 2004

Congressman Pete Stark
39300 Civic Center Dr. Suite 220
Fremont, CA 94538
Fax: 510-494-5852

RE: Request to contact CSC concerning EB I-485 delays

Dear Representative Pete Stark,

I am writing to you regarding the delays in adjudication of I-485 cases at the California Service Center (CSC) of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS. According to CSC’s progress report, adjudication for I-485 cases has not shown any progress since 2002. Congress has expressed repeatedly that the reasonable adjudication period is 6 months for immigrant benefit cases. The unreasonable and unpredictable delay at the USCIS is unequivocally infringing upon career and pursuit of happiness of many applicants.

Through the Internet, I was able to find a group of concerned immigrants who also filed their I-485s but find themselves in quagmire. Many of us have contacted members of the Congress for assistance. One of us was lucky enough to reach Representative Anna Eshoo and her assistant contacted Don Neufeld, Director of CSC for the USCIS on our behalf. Responding to the I-485 delay, Mr. Neufeld stated that El Salvadoran receiving Temporary Protected Status (TPS) immigrant benefits was prioritized before the I-485 applications and contributed to the delay. It is revolting to think that many legal immigrants such as myself who pay taxes and contribute to the American economy but we are still regarded as low priority by the USCIS. Mr. Neufeld has also promised to reduce the processing time for Adjustment of Status applications (I-485) to 12 months or less by the end of September 2004. I encourage Representative Stark to hold Don Neufeld to his words and improve the service at the CSC. Any further delays and broken promises would only create distrust among government agencies, its elected officials, and the people, whom the elected are supposed to represent.

In summary, I would like to request for Representative Stark’s help to 1) contact the CSC of the USCIS and express frustrations with the I-485 processing delays; and 2) hold Don Neufeld to his promise and obtain specific plans to reduce the I-485 backlogs without more de-prioritizing of I-485 immigrant benefits.

Best regards,

Signature
Name
Contact

[kadamtal]

My text is exactly like wittAAAA and faxed it to Washington D.C. Couldn't get through Fremont no. I will try later in the evening...

[kadamtal]

Hey I140, can you bring this thread below the "IMPORTANT:CSC specific threads" thread. I had trouble finding this as i always know i should start below this. :-)

[lareds]

sent wittAAAA version

[140_takes_4ever]

Originally posted by kadamtal
Hey I140, can you bring this thread below the "IMPORTANT:CSC specific threads" thread. I had trouble finding this as i always know i should start below this. :-)

Kadamtal,

Couldn't do it! I think the sticky options go by Descending order, (I think), hence this thread will be above the other one.

Would you prefer if this thread was not marked as important?

Also, if you don't mind I will delete the posts on this thread that are not in sync with the purpose of this thread. Let us keep it clean and focused.

[140_takes_4ever]

• whitAAA
• kadamtal
• laredS
• 140_takes_4ever

4/30

[brokenarrow]

sent to pete stark.

[kash777]

excellent .There shud be number of fax messages sent out to Pete Stark then we can hope that he will listen what is go in on here

[ErDr]

Here is the body of my fax to Congressman Stark:

I am writing to seek your help in reducing the processing delays at the California Service Center (CSC) of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

My wife and I filed our employment based I-485 applications to adjust to permanent resident status (Receipt Numbers WAC-02-114-5xxxx & WAC-02-114-5xxxx) with the California Service Center of USCIS on 12 February 2002. It has been more than two years since we filed our applications, but USCIS is yet to adjudicate our application.

According to the processing time updates published by CSC, no significant progress has been made in adjudicating this kind of cases since 2002. This has resulted in a huge backlog at CSC and I am not sure if CSC has any viable action plan to clear the growing backlog in a reasonable period of time. This backlog is affecting the day-to-day lives of hundreds of thousands of green-card applicants waiting to hear from USCIS.

This problem is not unique to the California Service Center—The Texas Service Center (TSC) also has a huge backlog. However, because of repeated prodding by the Texas Congressman Lamar Smith and the Texas Congressional Delegation, the TSC has started processing the I-485 applications and is expected to reduce the backlog soon. I believe that a similar prodding of CSC by Congress members from California is the only way to get CSC to act on our applications. Therefore, I respectfully urge you to discuss this acute delay problem with the CSC director Mr. Don Neufeld and urge him to clear the I-485 backlog.

Thank you for your consideration.

[kadamtal]

I faxed to the fremont office also...

[askgc]

I have faxed to fremont office.

[solarise]

mailed and faxed to both the Fremont and the DC Office.

[kashmir]

1. whitAAA
2. kadamtal
3. laredS
4. 140_takes_4ever
5. brokenarrow
6. ErDr
7. askgc
8. solarise

[140_takes_4ever]

Kashmir,

Strange, but I don't see your name on the list!

[kashmir]

Hi, 140_takes_4ever,
I am back.

Originally posted by 140_takes_4ever
Kashmir,
Strange, but I don't see your name on the list!

I have just faxed to both Washington DC office and Fremont office.
-kashmir

ImmigrationPortal.Com
5225 N. Wilson Blvd. Arlington VA 22205
Phone: (703) 908-4800
United for Dignity, Equality and Acceptance

March 3, 2004

Congressman Pete Stark
239 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5065
Fax: (202) 226-3805

RE: CSC Director Mr. Don Neufeld and I-485 Backlog Reduction

Dear Congressman Pete Stark;

I am writing to you regarding unreasonable delays in adjudication of I-485 applications at the California Service Center (CSC) of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). According to USCIS official report of processing dates, adjudication for I-485 cases has not shown any progress since 2002. Congress has expressed repeatedly that the reasonable adjudication period is 6 months for immigrant benefit cases. The failure of USCIS to comply with legislations has resulted in a class action lawsuit filed in the District Court of the District of Columbia (Complaint for Mandamus, Declaratory, and Injunctive Relief, Civil Action 03-2606, Judge James Roberson, Filed 22 December 2003).

Even though the USCIS is a government agency, it should never be above the law. Thus, I urge Congressman to enforce legislations passed by members of the Congress and hold the USCIS to higher standards of service. I would also like to remind Congressman of words by Thomas Jefferson, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The unreasonable delay at the USCIS is unequivocally infringing upon my career and my pursuit of happiness.

My representative Anna Eshoo contacted CSC Director Mr. Don Neufeld on our behalf in November 2003. Responding to the I-485 delay, Mr. Neufeld stated that El Salvadoran receiving Temporary Protected Status (TPS) immigrant benefits was prioritized before the I-485 applications and contributed to the delay. It is revolting to think that many legal immigrants who pay taxes and contribute to the American economy but we are still regarded as low priority by the USCIS. Mr. Neufeld has also promised 1) to significantly increase resource allocations to I-485 adjudications beginning April 2004; and 2) to reduce the processing time for Adjustment of Status applications (I-485) to 12 months or less by the end of September 2004. I encourage Congressman to hold Don Neufeld to his words and improve the service at the CSC. Any further delays and broken promises would only create distrust among government agencies, its elected officials, and the people, whom the elected are supposed to represent.

This problem is not unique to the CSC. The Texas Service Center (TSC) also has a huge backlog. However, because of repeated prodding by Congressman Lamar Smith and the Texas Congressional Delegation, the TSC has started processing the I-485 applications from the beginning of February 2004, and is expected to reduce the backlog soon. I believe that a similar prodding of CSC by Congressional members from California is the only way to get CSC to act on I-485 applications. Therefore, I respectfully urge you to discuss this acute delay problem with the CSC Director Mr. Don Neufeld and urge him to clear the I-485 backlog.

In summary, I would like to request for Congressman's help to 1) contact the CSC of the USCIS and express frustrations with the I-485 processing delays; and 2) hold Don Neufeld to his promise and obtain specific plans to reduce the I-485 backlogs without more de-prioritizing of I-485 immigrant benefits.

I'm available for any comments at ###-###-####. Thank you for your attention and your time.

Sincerely,
(my signature)
(my name)
(my address)
(my contact information)
WAC-02-124-##### (I-485)
Pending at CSC for over two years !!

Attachment:
1) Don Neufeld's letter to Anna Esho 12/22/2003


Congressman Pete Stark
39300 Civic Center Dr. Suite 220
Fremont, CA 94538
Phone: (510) 494-1388
Fax: (510) 494-5852

[hello_world_bye]

Just faxed to Fremont office.

[Eager2000]

Sent to both offices

[theWarrior]

Sent to both offices!

[rk4gc]

Fax sent to local office

[kashmir]

1. whitAAA
2. kadamtal
3. laredS
4. 140_takes_4ever
5. brokenarrow
6. ErDr
7. askgc
8. solarise
9. kashmir
10. hello_world_bye
11. Eager2000
12. theWarrior
13. rk4gc

30 = TARGET NUMBER OF FAXES BY 3/10/2004

Town Hall Meeting Original Thread

[jackchen20022002]

fax sent!!!

[kashmir]

To: Congressman Pete Stark <petemail@stark.house.gov>
Subject: Immigration - CSC Performance Problems - please update at town meeting

*******************************************
ImmigrationPortal.Com
5225 N. Wilson Blvd. Arlington VA 22205
Phone: (703) 908-4800
United for Dignity, Equality and Acceptance
*******************************************

RE: CSC Performance Problems

Dear Congressman Pete Stark;

We are going to attend your town meeting on coming Saturday.
We have seen several performance problems
at the California Service Center (CSC) as follows.
If you can 1) call directly to CSC Director Don Neufeld this week;
and 2) update this issue at your town meeting on Saturday,
I'd appreciate it very much.

1) I-485 Processing Date
When I filed my I-485 application in 2002,
the California Service Center (CSC) was the FASTEST service center
among 4 service centers nationwide.
However, the USCIS has updated CSC I-485 processing date only once
by just one month from 11/16/2001 to 12/16/2001 at the report of 9/1/2003
for last 14 months since 1/15/2003.
Now, the CSC is shamefully the SLOWEST service center.

2) Don Neufeld's Excuse and Promise on I-485 Backlog at CSC
My representative Anna Eshoo wrote to CSC Director Don Neufeld
in November 2003, and he responded to her on 12/22/2003 as follows:
> As we make progress in completing the older background checks,
> the processing time for I-485's will begin to improve.
> However, because of the competing need to adjudicate approximately
> 60,000 El Salvadoran applications for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
> prior March 9, 2004, we do not anticipate assigning any additional staff
> to process I-485s until the latter half of this fiscal year.
> We do plan to significantly increase resource allocations to I-485
> adjudications beginning April 2004. Based on current workload projections,
> our goal is to reduce the processing time for Adjustment of Status
> applications to 12 months or less by the end of September 2004.
According to USCIS Press Release of 3/4/2004:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffa...D_03_04_04.pdf
> The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) today announced
> it has completed processing renewal Employment Authorization Document (EADs)
> for more than 238,000 Salvadorans who have re-registered
> for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
This means the competing need that Don Neufeld mentioned has disappeared.
However, we cannot see any improvement on I-485 processing at the CSC.
On the other hand, the number of approvals at 3 service centers
other than CSC has been recently increasing.
Especially, the Texas Service Center (TSC) had been infamous
as the slowest service center for a long time, however, in January 2004,
our colleagues at ImmigratoinPortal.Com contacted Congressman Lamar Smith,
who talked to TSC Director, then the TSC actually started I-485 process
from February 2004.
Only the CSC shows NO PROGRESS at all.

Considering the CSC's ugly performance,
I believe Don Neufeld should resign from CSC Director
unless he can keep his promise beginning April 2004
within a month from now on.
Please talk directly to CSC Director Don Neufeld
and update at your town meeting on Saturday.

Sincerely,

(my name)
(my address)
(my contact information)
WAC-02-124-##### (I-485)
pending at CSC for over 2 years since February 2002 !!

[kashmir]

1. whitAAA
2. kadamtal
3. laredS
4. 140_takes_4ever
5. brokenarrow
6. ErDr
7. askgc
8. solarise
9. kashmir (fax/e-mail)
10. hello_world_bye
11. Eager2000
12. theWarrior
13. rk4gc
14. jackchen20022002

30 = TARGET NUMBER OF FAXES BY 3/10/2004

Town Hall Meeting Original Thread

[kash777]

kashmir,
I think this time if Pete raises his voice mentioning that he will like to help people only in Fremont then we shud be ready for good ,polite argument ,say we every one are trying to meet most of the congressman's/women in bay area and attending town hall meetings of every one. We can reference this by proof of other copies of letters and we all wish you ( Pete ) to voice our concern. This is a individual as well as collective effort to know Congressman/woman what people are suffering because of delay in processing every application by CIS resulting in our/their lives are kept indefinately on hold .resulting in our/their lives are kept indefinately on hold .

[kashmir]

CA 13th District Residents can make a decision.
I may follow YOUR strategy on Saturday.

By the way,
how about asking how I-485 backlog issue or our litigation is discussed among Congress members in Washington DC ?
-kashmir

Originally posted by kash777
kashmir,
I think this time if Pete raises his voice mentioning that he will like to help people only in Fremont then we shud be ready for good ,polite argument ,say we every one are trying to meet most of the congressman's/women in bay area and attending town hall meetings of every one. We can reference this by proof of other copies of letters and we all wish you ( Pete ) to voice our concern. This is a individual as well as collective effort to know Congressman/woman what people are suffering because of delay in processing every application by CIS resulting in our/their lives are kept indefinately on hold .resulting in our/their lives are kept indefinately on hold .

[kash777]

Kashmir, and all attending members :

"how about asking how I-485 backlog issue or our litigation is discussed among Congress members in Washington DC ? "

I feel let us have some kind of structured questions ( may be 2 or 3 questions,or more ,considering there may be lot of people attending this meeting ) . This will help us and it will look like that we all are organised and have done some homework.

[nimatramatra01]

faxed to the fremont office.
couldn't get through to the DC office. will try again later.