Clinton to Chertoff: Don't be prejudiced against prospective voters

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oroper

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Sen. Hillary Clinton is calling on the government to whittle down the growing backlog of applications for U.S. citizenship.

"I urge you to devote all the necessary resources at your disposal to the prompt and efficient processing of these applications," Clinton wrote in a letter to Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, "and I ask you to again reconsider the burdensome fee increases being imposed on applicants."

Homeland Security officials said recently that immigrants who applied for citizenship after June 1 will have to wait more than a year to become Americans, a delay that will prevent many from voting in next November's elections.

"These are applicants who have played by the rules and waited patiently for their chance to share in the American Dream," Clinton writes to Chertoff. "They deserve prompt and fair action on their applications."

The junior U.S. senator from New York, among the Democratic front-runners for 2008's presidential election, also requested of Chertoff a resolution timeline for the problems she outlined.

Excerpts of Sen. Clinton's letter, available in full at her official website,

"Dear Mr. Secretary: I have been following with deep concern the news about the significant delays in the processing of citizenship applications by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. As has been reported, a citizenship application has taken typically about seven months to process. However, foreseeable and preventable processing delays have meant that immigration officials are now taking upwards of five months to simply acknowledge receipt of an application...

These delays are unacceptable. When considered in concert with the recent and significant escalation of citizenship application fees, this failure demonstrates a complete breakdown at USCIS...

The majority of these applicants have navigated the citizenship application process for years, with many having waited a lifetime to become citizens of this, their adopted country. They have played by the rules in their pursuit of the American Dream. Their commitment to becoming U.S. citizens reaffirms the strength of our democracy and reinforces our heritage as a nation of immigrants....

These prospective citizens should not be prejudiced because the Department of Homeland Security failed to plan appropriately. Their applications must be processed without either undue delay or the imposition of excessive or prohibitive fees. For that reason, I eagerly await word of what steps DHS and USCIS intend to take to fix this situation...
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So, Do you think this will go anywhere?
 
The only way we'll go anywhere is if Senator Clinton actually keeps on top of the demands outlined in her letter. Being the cynic that I am, I can't help but wonder whether or not this is merely a political stunt on the part of Ms. Clinton, aimed at gaining immigrant support by demonstrating false empathy.
 
oroper said:
This has also crossed my mind :confused:
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Having lived in New York since before Hilary Clinton was a Senator, I can honestly say that she hasn't done much for NYS. She hasn't done anything bad, but nothing good either. Her politics seem to be very by the book. This is what makes me think that it's a political stunt. However, most immigrants I know would vote Democrat, so Ms. Clinton could actually be doing something to further validate support from immigrants. Like I've said, I'm a cynic when it comes to politics. Her intentions can really be genuine.
 
guys intensions of politicians are very clear. they want votes. no different here. but when clinton talks about it they will have to listen and do something.because she may be the future president. so they may do something. I really dont care who does it, it can be rudoph hitler, if they can do something thats great. because it is a hell going there. May be we should spread the idea in democrats that,giving quick GC to immigrants is an open ticket to retaining them in power(most of them may be democrats)
but for now. i think the department will reuse resources for this work, so no more progress in approvals anymore until sometime.
 
Immigration is a hot topic during this election so what better way of a presidential canditate to demonstrate to the potential voters that she is supporting them in the hopes that they support her later on. Isn't it ironic that it was her husband who was in office in 1998 when the INS had long backlogs also? Makes you wonder if any adminstration can effectively fix the problems that not only plague the USCIS but other departments as well. When it comes down to it, the government as do other institutions run on a reactive basis, rather than a proactive basis.
 
Well, good for Ms Clinton! She isn't my first choice as Democratic candidate, but this moves her up a few notches in my list. If she's the nominee and, by some miracle, :rolleyes:I get to vote in 2008, she'll get mine!!

I don't mind if it IS a political ploy. It's all to our advantage to have more publicity about this silly situation. The more the better, whatever the motive!

Maybe some of the other candidates will jump on the bandwagon and cause some more noise about it.:cool:
 
yes yes. but the other way. tom tancredo decided to air that great ad beyond Iowa. The ad showing immigrants (both legal and illegal) coming to bomb us. clinton is doing certainly good compared to that.
 
Everyone made very valid points. Regardless of what the motives are, Hillary Clinton is bringing this fiasco to the spotlight. Desi2007 makes a particulary good point by saying that Hillary Clinton may very well be the future President, in which case those who were responsible for this mess may be replaced with someone else. In the cutthroat world of politics, anything can happen.
 
I think the Tancredo ad mainly relates to illegal immigrants, but in some people's minds there's little difference between legal and illegal immigrants - they don't like any of us!!

It looks like he'll be dropping out soon - let's hope so.
 
Inlineagain said:
I think the Tancredo ad mainly relates to illegal immigrants, but in some people's minds there's little difference between legal and illegal immigrants - they don't like any of us!!

It looks like he'll be dropping out soon - let's hope so.
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Bingo. A while ago, I was reading the Immigration topic on Yahoo Answers. I was floored by the amount of people (probably mindless, uneducated rednecks, for the most part) who think that all non-citizens are illegal immigrants.
 
Although not really relevant here I am always surprised that everyone assumes that every citizen-in-waiting is a Democrat and that therefore the delays are an evil plot by the government. I can't believe either is strictly true.
 
I think the idea that most would-be citizens are Democrats probably stems from the activist organisations who it is reported have been encouraging eligible PRs (many who are Latino or Mexican) to apply for citizenship, in order to help the Democrat side, with a view to getting a Dem administration (who they think would be more helpful in getting legislation through which would be kinder to illegal immigrants.)


Re a "plot" - perhaps there is no pre-planned plot, but there is certainly a situation that a government whose party is not doing too well might be tempted to use to its advantage.;)
 
tangodancer said:
Although not really relevant here I am always surprised that everyone assumes that every citizen-in-waiting is a Democrat and that therefore the delays are an evil plot by the government. I can't believe either is strictly true.
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I am not a believer in conspiracy theories. I seriously doubt that it's an evil plot by the government; it's nothing more than an example of bureaucracy at its finest (or worst, depending on how you look at it). The Republican party has already succeeded in making itself unpopular with the Iraq war.
 
Sen. Clinton writes:

Their applications must be processed without either undue delay or the imposition of excessive or prohibitive fees. For that reason, I eagerly await word of what steps DHS and USCIS intend to take to fix this situation and I ask that you provide me with a timeline indicating when these problems will be resolved.


However, the increased fees are a reality of life. Perhaps she should suggest how to reduce the fees instead.

USCIS has indicated that they have hired 1500 more workers to deal with the delays. Again, perhaps she should suggest how they deal with the influx of cases.

It seems that politicians are always eager to point the finger yet not willing to provide solutions that have shown to work. It's one thing to write a letter and point fingers about it, it's another to actually work towards legislation and solutions that would have prevented this mess in the first place.
 
bob,
if politicians could solve problems and come up ideas world would have changed a lot. these guys dont understand anything deep in a problem. thats because they are contantly on the move from problem to problem. Mr. Chertoff is expected to resolve the issue, and he could ask for more money/resource budget from the govt. Overexpectations on these folks are of no use.
 
Wow!

oroper said:
Sen. Hillary Clinton is calling on the government to whittle down the growing backlog of applications for U.S. citizenship.
So, Do you think this will go anywhere?
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I applaud and admire Sen. Clinton's action! Couldn't have put it better. Awsome! Thank you so much!! Not that I wasn't sure about voting next November, but now everything is crystal clear.

Hope it'll make CIS move in right direction, and fast.
 
desi2007 said:
bob,
if politicians could solve problems and come up ideas world would have changed a lot. these guys dont understand anything deep in a problem. thats because they are contantly on the move from problem to problem. Mr. Chertoff is expected to resolve the issue, and he could ask for more money/resource budget from the govt. Overexpectations on these folks are of no use.
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Call me a cynic, but I doubt that a Democratic congress would release the funds required to alleviate the current backlogs to a Republican administration in an election year.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Call me a cynic, but I doubt that a Democratic congress would release the funds required to alleviate the current backlogs to a Republican administration in an election year.
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Maybe. If say, Sen Clinton introduces and pushes a bill to this effect, it may work to the Dems benefit..no?
 
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