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Times of India coverage on Backlog

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...r_citizenship_delays_/articleshow/2747484.cms


Judge blasts officials for citizenship delays
1 Feb 2008, 0419 hrs IST,AP
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PHILADELPHIA: A federal judge criticized US officials for taking years to process citizenship applications from legal permanent residents.

The judge - clearly frustrated by the number of Green Card holders filing suit to trigger action on their citizenship - questioned the priorities of US immigration officials.

The delays typically stem from the government's insistence on a third FBI "name check" - which the applicants by then have undergone twice before, when they sought visas and Green Cards. In a small fraction of the cases, the name checks bog down, leaving applicants on hold indefinitely.

"One looking at this issue from a national security perspective could seriously question the priorities adopted" by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US District Judge Michael M. Baylson wrote in a Jan. 25 order that consolidates six cases.

Baylson said he saw no evidence the applicants posed any security threats. But if there were any doubts, their applications should be expedited, not stalled, he said.

If so, "these individuals should instead be placed in custody as quickly as possible, have their (legal permanent residency) status revoked, and be deported, forthwith," the judge wrote. "Delaying their citizenship status does not eliminate the danger they may pose to our country; indeed, as LPRs, they can remain here indefinitely."

Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller did not have an immediate response to the judge's order, in which he asked both sides for briefs on the issue by Friday.

The applicants include Victor Mocanu of Philadelphia, a Romanian immigrant in his late 50s who applied for US citizenship in March 2004.

"These cases are flooding the US courts across the country. The judges resent them because they're taking their very valuable time to solve a problem that shouldn't exist," said lawyer James J. Orlow, who represents Mocanu and other would-be citizens.

One client has been waiting four years for the citizenship he needs to bring his wife and children to the United States, Orlow said. Others need US citizenship to pursue professional licenses or other goals, he said.

Baylson heard testimony earlier this month from Donald Neufeld, an operations official at the US citizenship agency, and others. In his memo, Baylson asked why the government did not consolidate court cases over naturalization delays so as not to duplicate its legal efforts. The cases rarely involve factual disputes, he said.

His order, issued Wednesday, bars the government from taking any action on five of the cases - the other may prove moot - through at least February 8 Baylson also offered his help in settling the suits.
 
Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012502997.html

High Price, Poor Service
Despite exorbitant fees, the wait to become a naturalized citizen is three times as long as it was last year.




IN JULY, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services increased naturalization and visa fees across the board by an average of 66 percent. One fee more than septupled: the application to change from temporary to permanent residency, which went from $180 to $1,370. Immigration advocacy groups and other critics (including us) decried the ghastly expenses immigrants faced. Still, USCIS pledged that the increases would benefit applicants by allowing the agency to reduce processing times: from six months to four months for permanent residency visas, and from seven months to five months for naturalization applications.

Fast-forward to today. As USCIS Director Emilio T. Gonzalez testified at a House hearing last week, permanent residency applications now take about a year to process, and naturalization applications take a whopping 18 months. USCIS attributes this to the surge in applications it received in June and July -- 3 million applications and petitions in the summer of 2007, up from 1.8 million in the summer of 2006 -- and says it had no way of anticipating the increase. But USCIS should have known that raising fees so precipitously would have this effect. After all, any expected fee increase encourages people to apply immediately. This motivation, coupled with the heated immigration debate and the corresponding naturalization drives led by advocacy groups, surely led to the explosion in applications.

USCIS has responded to the new backlog with a plan to hire 1,800 more staffers. Mr. Gonzalez said this will allow USCIS to reduce wait times for naturalization and permanent residency visas to six months in 2010. This timeline is unacceptable: It will prevent hundreds of thousands of applicants who filed for naturalization in 2007 from participating in the presidential election.

One potential solution, both to this immediate backlog and to the long-term problems facing USCIS's processing, is to stop requiring that USCIS be self-supporting. Unlike other government agencies, it receives no regular appropriations from Congress. Instead, its budget must be covered from funds generated by user fees. The agency has "no plans" to ask Congress for funding, according to spokesman Christopher S. Bentley, because USCIS is "comfortable" with this model, no matter the hardship its high prices may place on its disproportionately poor clients.

Clearly this model isn't working, and it is contrary to American values. The United States has a historical mission of welcoming immigrants. Given the public (as well as private) good that comes from citizenship,

USCIS should receive annual funding so that it can process applications expeditiously, carefully and affordably for new Americans and legal residents.
 
Philly Burbs

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-01312008-1480650.html

U.S. judge blasts immigration officials for citizenship delays

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - A federal judge criticized U.S. officials for taking years to process citizenship applications from legal permanent residents.

The judge , clearly frustrated by the number of Green Card holders filing suit to trigger action on their citizenship , questioned the priorities of U.S. immigration officials.

The delays typically stem from the government's insistence on a third FBI "name check" , which the applicants by then have undergone twice before, when they sought visas and Green Cards. In a small fraction of the cases, the name checks bog down, leaving applicants on hold indefinitely.

"One looking at this issue from a national security perspective could seriously question the priorities adopted" by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson wrote in a Jan. 25 order that consolidates six cases.

Baylson said he saw no evidence the applicants posed any security threats. But if there were any doubts, their applications should be expedited, not stalled, he said.

If so, "these individuals should instead be placed in custody as quickly as possible, have their (legal permanent residency) status revoked, and be deported, forthwith," the judge wrote. "Delaying their citizenship status does not eliminate the danger they may pose to our country; indeed, as LPRs, they can remain here indefinitely."

Spokesman Chris Bentley of the citizenship office, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency does not comment on pending cases. The judge asked both sides to file briefs on the issue by Friday.

The applicants include Victor Mocanu of Philadelphia, a Romanian immigrant in his late 50s who applied for U.S. citizenship in March 2004.

"These cases are flooding the U.S. courts across the country. The judges resent them because they're taking their very valuable time to solve a problem that shouldn't exist," said lawyer James J. Orlow, who represents Mocanu and other would-be citizens.

One client has been waiting four years for the citizenship he needs to bring his wife and children to the United States, Orlow said. Others need U.S. citizenship to pursue professional licenses or other goals, he said.

Baylson heard testimony earlier this month from Donald Neufeld, an operations official at the U.S. citizenship agency, and others. In his memo, Baylson asked why the government did not consolidate court cases over naturalization delays so as not to duplicate its legal efforts. The cases rarely involve factual disputes, he said.

His order, issued Wednesday, bars the government from taking any action on five of the cases , the other may prove moot , through at least Feb. 8. Baylson also offered his help in settling the suits.

January 31, 2008 6:51 PM
 
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