Another proof of profiling....

I guess when they say 16-18 months for application processing, they forgot to mention that this rule applies to SPECIAL INTEREST ALIENS! LOL..It's ridiculous how they do that. They should know better though. Good article. Thanks for posting.
 
No news is as bad as, or as good as it is reported... it could be worse or better. With that said, sure, it's possible that what's being reported is true. But note that the article refers to: "...proposed list, which officials said had yet to be adopted...". So it's still in the proposal stage.

There are many Muslims (Arabs or otherwise) who got processed speedily. I hope they speak up on this sensitive matter. The people being affected by namechecks or security checks seem to come from a wide variety of backgrounds besides Arabs... East Europeans, Russians, Chinese, Latinos, Indians and also belonging to different religions.

Not trying to minimize anyone's concerns, but wanted to point out that at least part of this concern generally results purely from perception. The Govt has its priorities, and immigrants have theirs. There is bound to be some conflict there. The public can accuse the Govt of profiling, but the Govt cannot do the same to any particular segment. (Not trying to defend anyone here!)

Let's hope all these bottlenecks go away and everyone gets processed in a timely fashion. All the best.

OY
 
Middle East/ Profiling

I am from the middle East and from a county that is not a US ally. I have the most common Muslim name in the world. I send my N400 application in September; had my fingerprint done in December, Interview in February and will have oath at the end of March. If the name check does not come up with a positive match where additional files need to be manually checked, then Interview is scheduled based on available date/time on DO's calendar. On the other hand, if there is a positive match, the process can go on for years.

My personal experience has been very positive with the process.
 
My experiece with DOS/USCIS has been nothing but positive. I am a south asian muslim born in the city now commonly called " the most dangerous city in the world". There are the processing times for me:

(1) K-1 = under 4 months
(2) AOS = 11 months (last 90 days due to A-file not arriving at DO)
(3) I-751 = 75 days
(4) N-400 = exactly 4 months

I never got stuck in the name change process nor have I ever felt being singled out by ICE/CBP.


ohyeah said:
There are many Muslims (Arabs or otherwise) who got processed speedily. I hope they speak up on this sensitive matter.
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Guys....this is America. Anyone who is not a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) is profiled, regardless of nationality, religion and/or ethnic background.
 
Vorpal, not entirely true. Even WASPs from Germany, England and Australia have got entangled in the ongoing security/name check loop. Also, I don't believe the 'P' would play a role... How/why would they differentiate between Protestants and Catholics? Last names don't mean much these days in this respect.

On a different front (non-immigration related), there have been cases where very WASPy people have been strip-searched at airports. Even a very white, serving senator - 60plus years old - and a grandmotherly lady were subjected to the type of screening that a 25 yr-old old brown-skinned immigrant would have vehemently protested against.

Before the 3-1-1 fluid rule existed, I have personally seen very white children being asked to sip the soda from their coolers, so as to prove that it was a consumable and not an inflammable liquid. The kids sipped it and their parents did not seemed perturbed. A foreigner might have responded with something like, "What? Sip this in front of you?? You Americans don't trust the liquid I am carrying in my cup??? Discrimination!!" You get the picture.

Again, it's entirely possible that some bias might exist, but there is also a good deal of perception that goes into this view.

Let's also recognize that the majority of applicants are non-WASPs and they get approved in a timely fashion. Which is why these discrimination lawsuits don't hold much water. USCIS may say: Why would we discriminate against these 5 XYZians when we just speedily adjudicated 95 other XYZians?

I say all this fully realizing that I would probably be feeling the same as anyone else if I had got delayed in the security/name check process.

I think GhantaBro has summed it up: Immigrants are being profiled.

One thing needs to change though: the whole process definitely needs to be speeded up. An applicant cannot keep waiting for months and years without knowing what lies in store for him/her.
 
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Name Check ... huh????

The important question I have for the USCIS is that if you really want to perform the name/background check "seriously" on immigrants, why not perform it for all the GC holders in US. Why do they wait until somebody files for a USC? If someone is really a terrorist or dealing with drugs etc they won't file for USC, when they can continue their "work" under a GC shield. "Seriously" - I say because if the DHS really wants to go for national security they would hire more people and have their name check automated to catch those people soon.
 
LegalAlien2 said:
The important question I have for the USCIS is that if you really want to perform the name/background check "seriously" on immigrants, why not perform it for all the GC holders in US. Why do they wait until somebody files for a USC? If someone is really a terrorist or dealing with drugs etc they won't file for USC, when they can continue their "work" under a GC shield. "Seriously" - I say because if the DHS really wants to go for national security they would hire more people and have their name check automated to catch those people soon.
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They perform it on GC applicants as well. I seriously wonder what the point is in performing the same procedure TWICE. If a GC applicant cleared his/her name check, why run it again?
 
Even when somebody's name makes a 'hit' with whichever database(s), it should still be possible to resolve such cases fairly quickly.

I would think it's just a matter of priorities... thereby adversely affecting the resources allocated to this task.

Immigration is the story of our lives. For the authorities, it's just another day's mundane (read low priority) work.

Overall, the odds are stacked unfavorably against immigrants during the process.
 
i am thinking maybe they do a more extensive background check for naturalization than for GC, which is understandable because as a citizen you have more rights and not deportable. Otherwise, why redo the same work again, they could then limit the naturalization background check to the past 5 years (or 3 years in some cases) which should be really quick as they would not have to resort to manual checks.
 
I could see why the check for naturalization might be more extensive. For example I was visiting a location today that permitted same-day access for US citizens but required non-US citizens, including green card holders, to fill in a 7-page form and go through a vetting process that takes about a week to complete.
 
I just told you why a background check is done for N-400 applicants. They want one more chance to catch any thing the LPR has done in the past, but with more emphasis on the time between LPR approval and N-400 adjudication. This way they often catch LPRs who have domestic warrants too.

nyc_naturalizer said:
That's a pretty terrible argument. What if an individual does the same after naturalizing?
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Triple Citizen said:
What if an individual goes and trains with Al-Qaida or the IRA after getting his/her green card?
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Both Azzam the American and Jihad Johnny (John Walker Lindh) were natural-born American citizens. Does that mean that every inhabitant of the U.S. should be run through name check every couple of months or so? Or, to take your argument even further, what if an individual files his/her N-400, finds out that their name check has been cleared, and THEN goes to train with Al-Qaeda or IRA? While I see the point of your argument, I don't see much validity in conducting the name check on 3 separate occasions (1. Visa 2. GC 3. Naturalization).
 
Triple Citizen said:
I just told you why a background check is done for N-400 applicants. They want one more chance to catch any thing the LPR has done in the past, but with more emphasis on the time between LPR approval and N-400 adjudication. This way they often catch LPRs who have domestic warrants too.
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This is true. Seems to me like this is their last chance to deport someone, so why not take it? Perhaps it's the cynic in me speaking again, but I think that the U.S. doesn't really want to grant citizenship to immigrants, so the USCIS is assigned the task of denying as many applications as possible. This explains the constant onslaught of WOM lawsuits against the USCIS (the majority of which they seem to lose), and the fact that nothing has been done by the goverment to reorganize their structure and procedures. It's almost as if the government is willing to squander public funds on these lawsuits, as long as a few more immigrants are prevented from becoming citizens and/or LPRs. So much for systems of checks and balances!
 
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