ACLU Class Action Suit over Naturalization & Namecheck Delays

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nyc_naturalizer

Registered Users (C)
Not an April Fools joke! See below:

Immigrants' Rights Advocates And ACLU File Lawsuit To End Illegal Delays In Processing Citizenship Applications (4/1/2008)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

PHILADELPHIA - Many immigrants who have satisfied the requirements to become U.S. citizens have been illegally left in limbo for years due to the slow processing of FBI "name checks," charged a lawsuit filed today in federal district court in Philadelphia against government officials responsible for the prolonged, system-wide delays. As a result of the lag in "name checks," hundreds or thousands of citizenship applications have been held up well past the 180-day window established by Congress for processing the applications.

"There is no reason why anyone should have to wait so long for citizenship after meeting all the requirements," said John Grogan, an attorney with Langer Grogan & Diver, P.C. and lead counsel for the plaintiffs. "These are people who want to pledge their allegiance to the United States and participate fully in our society as U.S. citizens."

The class action lawsuit, Ignatyev v. Chertoff, was filed by Langer Grogan & Diver, P.C., HIAS & Council Migration Services of Philadelphia, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Nationalities Services Center, Inc. on behalf of Mikhail Ignatyev and Nataliya Petrovna Demidchik - both from the former Soviet republic of Ukraine. The groups seek a halt to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) practice of holding citizenship applications in limbo for months or even years because of the FBI's failure to complete a name check of the applicants.

The lawsuit was filed against Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, USCIS Director Emilio T. Gonzalez, Philadelphia Acting District Director Evangelia Klapakis, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller.

The FBI has always conducted background checks of people applying for U.S. citizenship, but after 9/11 the USCIS began requiring an expanded FBI name check, which compares applicants' names to names held in a broad array of FBI files, including the names of innocent people like witnesses or crime victims. When an applicant's name is similar to a name in the FBI database, the FBI often will let the name check process stall for months or years, because further investigation requires a manual review of paper files that may be scattered across the country. Neither the USCIS nor the FBI imposes any deadlines on the FBI name check process.

Ignatyev and his wife were admitted to the United States in April 1999 as humanitarian immigrants from the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine under a law to help former Soviet citizens who had faced long-standing persecution because of their religion. His application for citizenship has been pending for over two years, although he has provided all the information requested by immigration officials.

Demidchik came to the U.S. in 2000 to join her daughter who is a U.S. citizen. Demidchik is 83 years old and disabled but remains active through programs at a local senior center and through volunteer work. Her citizenship application has been pending for over two-and-a-half years. In December 2005, she was scheduled for an examination - the final step in the process to naturalization; however, USCIS cancelled the examination in January 2006. She has heard nothing since about her application. Demidchik desperately wants to become a U.S. citizen before she dies.

"Longtime residents who have paid their dues and are contributing to our country deserve a timely decision as required by law," said Cecillia Wang, senior attorney for the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "Our clients are among the hundreds or thousands of longtime residents around the country who have been waiting patiently for years. The time for fixing the system is long overdue."

Attorneys on the lawsuit include Grogan and Ned Diver of Langer Grogan & Diver, P.C., Ayodele Gansallo and Judith Bernstein-Baker of HIAS & Council Migration Services of Philadelphia, Wang of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, Mary Catherine Roper and Witold J. Walczak of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Kristine C. Mehok of Nationalities Services Center, Inc.
 
A pdf of the complaint can be found here:

www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/34726lgl20080401.html

I'm copying the summary of the complaint and relief claim below. This appears to affect all of us who are affected by delays, whether caused by namecheck or not: "4. Enjoin Defendants and order them to: (a) take all necessary steps to complete all FBI name checks of naturalization applicants within 90 days from the date of submission of the applications; (b) and finally adjudicate all naturalization applicationswith 180 days from the date of submission."


PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
1. Plaintiffs are lawful permanent residents of the United States who have
lived in the United States for many years. Plaintiffs wish to become U.S. citizens and
long ago submitted naturalization applications to United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services ("USCIS"), the responsible federal agency.' Their naturalization
applications have not been adjudicated, however, despite the passage of over six months
since the dates of submission, because each of their applications is awaiting completion
of an "FBI name check," a background check that the FBI conducts on behalf of USCIS.
' In all statutory and regulatory provisions cited in this Complaint, the term "Service"
refers to the USCIS. 8 U.S.C. 5 1101(a)(34); 6 U.S.C. 5 271.
2. Plaintiffs seek to pledge their allegiance to the United States and to
participate fblly in our society as United States citizens. Having qualified to do so after
years of working in the United States and contributing to their communities, Plaintiffs
seek only what the law provides, which is a final decision on their naturalization
applications within the reasonable timelines required by law.
3. Defendant USCIS officials Gonzalez and Klapakis and the Secretary of
Homeland Security are responsible for the n8turalization process. Defendants Mueller
and Mukasey are responsible for the FBI name check and other background checks
conducted in the course of the naturalization process.
4. In November 2002, USCIS drastically altered the naturalization procedure
by requiring a vastly expanded FBI name check to be conducted on every application,
even though it is not required by either statute or regulation. The FBI implemented the
expanded FBI name check in a manner that has caused systemic, unnecessary and
prolonged delays in the naturalization process. As a result of Defendants7 policies and
practices, the unwarranted and cumbersome new FBI name check procedure has resulted
in months-long and even years-long delays in naturalization adjudication for Plaintiffs
and the proposed class.
5. USCIS'S own Ombudsman has stated that, as implemented by Defendants,
the FBI name check used in naturalization applications is of questionable value in
detecting persons who may pose a threat to security. Nevertheless, USCIS uses the FBI
name check without imposing any deadlines for completion. In requiring FBI name
checks and tolerating systemic and prolonged delays during those name checks, both
USCIS and the FBI have acted with complete disregard for Congress's plain directive
that USCIS should complete the processing of naturalization applications within six
months from the date of submission. Through their insistence on FBI name checks,
USCIS and the FBI have unreasonably delayed the processing of the naturalization
applications of Plaintiffs and the proposed class members, and USCIS has unlawfully
withheld final adjudication of these applications.
6. Defendants' unlawful conduct has deprived Plaintiffs of the privileges of
United States citizenship. Plaintiffs cannot vote, seive on juries, expeditiously sponsor
their immediate relatives living abroad for permanent residence, receive business and
education loans and other benefits reserved for citizens, participate in the Visa Waiver
Program, or travel abroad and return to the United States without fear of exclusion from
this country. Plaintiffs' experiences are typical of tens of thousands of other
naturalization applicants around the country who have suffered unreasonable and
unlawful delays in the naturalization process because of long-pending FBI name checks.
7. Plaintiffs respectfully request, on behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated, that the Court certify the proposed class, enter judgment in favor of the
proposed class on all claims, and grant the relief requested herein. Specifically, Plaintiffs
request that the Court require the Defendants to adjudicate their applications for
naturalization within the time periods prescribed by law, and declare that the Defendants'
actions violate the naturalization statue and regulations, laws governing administrative
agency action, and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.


***

PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court:
1. Assume jurisdiction over the matter.
2. Certify the class of Plaintiffs.
3. With respect to the certified class of Plaintiffs, order Defendants to: (a)
take all necessary steps to complete all FBI name checks of class members within a
reasonable time period not to exceed 45 days from the date of the Court's order; and (b)
finally adjudicate all naturalization applications of class members with a reasonable time
period not to exceed 90 days from the date of the Court's order.
4. Enjoin Defendants and order them to: (a) take all necessary steps to
complete all FBI name checks of naturalization applicants within 90 days from the date
of submission of the applications; (b) and finally adjudicate all naturalization applications
with 180 days from the date of submission.
5. Order Defendants Chertoff, Gonzalez, and Klapakis to revoke and suspend
the November 2002 expansion of the FBI name check with respect to naturalization
applications, until such time as Defendants have completed promulgating a rule following
the Administrative Procedure Act's process for notice and comment by the public.
6. Issue a declaratory judgment holding unlawful:
(a) the actions and omissions of Defendants Chertoff, Gonzalez, and
Klapakis in failing to adjudicate applications for naturalization within 180 days of the
date of submission, because of pending FBI name checks;
(b) the actions and omissions of Defendants Mukasey and Mueller in
failing to timely complete FBI name checks to allow USCIS to adjudicate applications
for naturalization within 180 days of the date of submission; and
(c) the actions and omissions of all Defendants in failing to set
deadlines and to take all necessary steps to adjudicate applications for naturalization
within 180 days of the date of submission,
 
nyc_naturalizer said:
A pdf of the complaint can be found here:

www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/34726lgl20080401.html

5. Order Defendants Chertoff, Gonzalez, and Klapakis to revoke and suspend
the November 2002 expansion of the FBI name check with respect to naturalization
applications, until such time as Defendants have completed promulgating a rule following
the Administrative Procedure Act's process for notice and comment by the public.
,
Click to expand...

This one would be huge. This was the judgement passed in the recent Mocanu case as well.

AP
 
tabaliya said:
This one would be huge. This was the judgement passed in the recent Mocanu case as well.

AP
Click to expand...

Applies to only applicants in PA, if successful: see quote from the suit below:

All lawful permanent residents who have submitted or will submit
applications for naturalization to the USCIS District Office located within
Pennsylvania, and whose applications for naturalization remain
unadjudicated more than180 days after the date of submission, because of
pending FBI name checks.
 
tabaliya said:
Applies to only applicants in PA, if successful: see quote from the suit below:

All lawful permanent residents who have submitted or will submit
applications for naturalization to the USCIS District Office located within
Pennsylvania, and whose applications for naturalization remain
unadjudicated more than180 days after the date of submission, because of
pending FBI name checks.
Click to expand...

Regardless of jurisdiction, thie will set a precedent for all future name check-related lawsuits, until the USCIS is forced to eliminate the practice of holding applications while name check is pending.
 
tabaliya said:
Applies to only applicants in PA, if successful: see quote from the suit below:

All lawful permanent residents who have submitted or will submit
applications for naturalization to the USCIS District Office located within
Pennsylvania, and whose applications for naturalization remain
unadjudicated more than180 days after the date of submission, because of
pending FBI name checks.
Click to expand...

You're correct. I hadn't read as far as the class definition when I posted this. Nevertheless, a favorable judgment on the case can only be good news for all of us.
 
The best news I've heard in a long-long time.... It MADE my day!

nyc_naturalizer, thank you for posting it!
 
Any news on this development? Does anyone know which judge was assigned to this case? Was hearing already scheduled?
 
Mocanu case

Is there any update on the mocanu case? Specifically on the judgement on the USCIS changing their requirement on the name check or following proper administrative procedures
 
Mocanu's case was done in March. USCIS and plaintiff's cut the deal to dismiss the case in exchange of getting naturalized, if I remember correctly. Somebody, please correct me if I'm mistaken...
 
Called the court today. Docket clerk is Mr. Levin (tel.267-299-7007). No hearing has been scheduled yet. The judge assigned to this case is Hon.Diamond.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_S._Diamond

If somebody with access to court records could please run a query on this Judge? Just curious if he was involved with immigration matters before and if so what was his stance and ruling?
 
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