Ocean Campaign #5 to Congressperson : Don Neufeld's Shameless Excuse and Foul Act

The Honorable Lamar Smith
2231 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4236
Fax: (202) 225-8628

The Honorable Elton Gallegly
2427 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5811
Fax: (202) 225-1100
 
just finish mail to
Senator:
Dianne Feinstein (D CA)
Barbara Boxer (D CA)
House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Immigration:
Zoe Lofgren (D CA 16)
Elton Gallegly (R CA 24)
Howard Berman (D CA 28)
Linda Sanchez (D CA 39)

Also Mike Honda
 
fax to Zoe Lofgren (D CA 16)

March 13, 2004

102 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Fax: (202) 225-3336

RE: CSC I-485 Process Performance Problem

Dear Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren:

I'd like to urge you to talk about the performance problem for I-485 adjudication process at the California Service Center (CSC) directly with CSC Director Mr. Don Neufeld because your are a member of House Subcomittee on Immigration from California.

From some sources, I knew congresswoman Anna Eshoo wrote to CSC Director Don Neufeld in November 2003, and he responded to her on 12/22/2003 as following.

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/publicaff...AD_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, I-485 process seems to be recently improved at 3 service centers other than CSC. Especially, the Texas Service Center (TSC) had been infamous as the slowest service center for a long time, however, in January 2004, some I-485 sufferers contacted Congressman Lamar Smith, who talked to TSC Director, and 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 to significantly increase resource allocations to I-485 adjudications beginning April 2004. Please talk directly to CSC Director Don Neufeld so that he can keep his promise.

Sincerely,


Name
Contact
 
List as of 3/13/2004

  • solarise - CA BB - Fax/Certified
  • solarise - CA DF - Fax/Certified
  • solarise - CA 08 NP - Fax/Certified
  • solarise - CA 15 MH - Fax/Certified
  • solarise - CA 16 ZL - Fax/Certified
  • solarise - CA 24 EG - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - CA 28 HB - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - CA 39 LS - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. John Kerry - Fax/Certified
  • solarise - Sen. Saxby Chambliss - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Rep. John Hostettler - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. John Edwards - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Rep. Steve King - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Rep. John Conyers, Jr. - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Charles Schumer - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Rep. Melissa Hart - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Mike DeWine - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Jon Kyl - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Richard Durbin - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Patrick Leahy - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Jeff Sessions - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Sen. Larry Craig - Fax/Mail
  • solarise - Rep. Lamar Smith - Fax/Mail
  • brokenarrow - Sen. Saxby Chambliss - Fax/Certified
  • brokenarrow - Rep. John Hostettler - Fax/Certified
  • brokenarrow - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy - Fax/Certified
  • brokenarrow - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee - Fax/Certified
  • askgc - CA DF - Fax
  • askgc - CA 08 NP - Fax
  • ErDr - CA 15 MH - Fax
  • ErDr - CA 16 ZL - Fax
  • gc0299 - CA 24 EG - Fax
  • gc0299 - CA 28 HB - Fax
  • wsxwsx - CA BB - Mail
  • wsxwsx - CA DF - Mail
  • wsxwsx - CA 15 MH -Mail
  • wsxwsx - CA 16 ZL - Mail
  • wsxwsx - CA 24 EG - Mail
  • wsxwsx - CA 28 HB - Mail
  • wsxwsx - CA 39 LS - Mail
  • wittAAAA - CA 16 ZL - Fax
  • HR_in_AZ - AZ ? - ?
  • kashmir - CA 14 AE - Fax/E-Mail
  • kashmir - CA 16 ZL - Fax
  • kashmir - CA 24 EG - Fax
  • kashmir - CA 28 HB - Fax
  • kashmir - CA 39 LS - Fax
  • kashmir - CA BB - Fax
  • kashmir - CA DF - Fax
 
According to Project Kashmir,
the CSC had approved:
89 cases at the first week of March 2004 (3/1/2004 - 3/5/2004), and
72 cases at the second week (3/8/2004 - 3/11/2004).
These numbers almost equal to the average number of weekly approvals for past a year.
Even though USCIS completed EADs for TPS El Salvador,
it's very doubtful that Don Neufeld has significantly increased resource allocations to I-485 adjudications.
 
I've completed my faxes to all members on the House and Senate Subcommittee of Immigration, Border Security, and Claims/Citizenship

Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
Alternate Fax: (202) 224-5032

The Honorable Marsha Blackburn
509 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2811
Fax: (202) 225-3004

The Honorable Chris Cannon
118 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-7751
Fax: (202) 225-1641

The Honorable Jeff Flake
424 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0301
Phone: (202) 225-2635
Fax: (202) 226-4386

Senator Chuck Grassley
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1501
Phone: (202) 224-3744
Fax: (202) 224-6020

My next step is to call the first groups I have faxed/mailed to starting from Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and Dianne Feinstein. I would like to know if they have assigned anyone to work on my behalf.

Any other directives kashmir?
 
Congratulations !!

Hi, solarise,
Congratulations !!
I will follow you to fax to all members on the House and Senate Subcommittee on Immigration soon
once I completed some urgent works.

It's really important step to talk directly with a staff handling Immigration matters at Washington DC office.
I will update later.
-kashmir
Originally posted by solarise
I've completed my faxes to all members on the House and Senate Subcommittee of Immigration, Border Security, and Claims/Citizenship

...

My next step is to call the first groups I have faxed/mailed to starting from Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and Dianne Feinstein. I would like to know if they have assigned anyone to work on my behalf.
Any other directives kashmir?
Click to expand...
 
Let's fax at least to your Representative and two Senators.
Fax is better, but E-MAIL is OK, too.

Use any letter format you want.
Check another campaigns for sample letter.

You can fax by e-mail, using TPC FAX or similar services.

Let's keep putting pressure on the CSC
until Don Neufeld allocates enough resources to I-485 adjudication !!
 
I note the CSC have processed 71 applications already this week - given that our friend Donald did not promise in his letter to Ann that he would not put extra resources onto I-485's until April - should I be writing to him congratulating him for stepping up early and exceeding expectations ?

Who is going to join me and thank him ?, or is this just another shameless act of deception.


Of course RFE activity is more interesting than actual approvals as this shows the total picute of activity - Kashmir care to comment has RFE activity and transfers also stepped up ?
 
Originally posted by rjl
I note the CSC have processed 71 applications already this week - given that our friend Donald did not promise in his letter to Ann that he would not put extra resources onto I-485's until April - should I be writing to him congratulating him for stepping up early and exceeding expectations ?

Who is going to join me and thank him ?, or is this just another shameless act of deception.

Of course RFE activity is more interesting than actual approvals as this shows the total picute of activity - Kashmir care to comment has RFE activity and transfers also stepped up ?
Click to expand...
Go ahead, please.
You must get more endorsements than Ocean's campaigns.

If I would see 200+ approvals everyday, I would join you.
 
rjl,

Take a hike. Even if I see 200+ approvals a day, I woudnt be writing any thank-you letter. We just would get what was overdue.

Chill out dude.
 
Thank INS????????????????????????????????????????

How about throwing a lavish party to the folks at CSC?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
They told us things would pick up in April like you I don't believe them but I have the sense to wait until April before throwing mud at them. I think your strategy of sending letters is not helpful unless they are based on facts and give people a chance to act.

...and to the person who told me to take a hike because 200+ approvals a day was what was due to us - remember you are a guest in someone elses country, nothing is due to us. Sad but true. However foul and shameless the acts are !!! and high my tax bill is.
 
thats the best praise I've had for weeks...

So tell me if I'm wrong but from the limted date we have for March don't thing look a little better


ever the optermist
 
I think a congratulatory letter may be premature. I would prefer to wait until September and see how much backlog he has reduced. Remember, the CSC and the USCIS operate in a blackbox and we cannot predict their progress from one month to the next. If Don Neufeld reaches his goal to reduce I-485 backlog to 12 month or less by September, I will send letters to Congressmen & women to laud CSC's improvement.

If my I-485 case becomes adjudicated between now and September, I would definitely send him a letter to thank him for his efforts and encourage him to keep up the good work. I urge others following this thread to do the same once they receive their I-485 approval.

In the meantime, I would still contact our Congressional leaders. Immigration reform is sorely needed in this country and leaders in the Congress need to hear about all the hardships the USCIS had put us legal immigrants through to push for changes.
 
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i think so it is too early to even think that Don Neufeld has additional resources allocated for 485.
Reason
1) CSC has not changed its strategy for adjudications since almost all applications whcih are approved had a preciding RFE.
2) I am not seeing 200-300 RFE's sent out each day so unless they change their strategy( of not sending RFE) i dont think so we will see 200 approvals.
FP's and RFE's are precursors to adjudciations. With almost all FP's expired for 02 it is very logical to think that there is no effort to reduce backlogs.
I think so we will be waiting till 2006 as Bush promised.:mad:
Things are getting out of hand and unless we dont do something the limited resources allocated to 485 will also go away in september when h1b processing starts and holiday season starts.
 
wac02091

( Originally posted by wac02091 29th March 2004 08:18 AM )

Hi all,

I am sending this letter to Senators Feinstein and Boxer,congresswoman Eshoo and the governor to bring to attention the current unfair proceesing of I-485 petitions. If anyone else wants to, you can also forward it to the above people. My lawyer told me not to include my WAC # to avoid personalizing the issue but just bring it to the attention of the senators etc. I cant take this bullXXX any more after waiting for 26 months.
I have posted this in the Jan 02 thread but feel free to include other people as well. Good luck to us all.


Re: Unfair I-485 processing practice at the California Service Center (CSC)

Dear Senator XXX,

My name is XXXXXX and I am currently employed as a medicinal chemist in the XXXXXX division of XXXXXX. I have a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from The Ohio State University. Over the past three years, I have been intimately involved with discovering new anti-viral and anti-bacterial agents. This research has been sponsored in part by DARPA and USAMRIID, as it may have far-reaching implications in developing medical countermeasures to neutralize biowarfare threats.

My employer sponsored my petition for permanent residency in April 2001 in the Outstanding Researcher/Professor category. My I-140 application was approved in 2001 and I filed my I-485 petition to become a permanent U.S. resident in January 2002.

As you may already know, the California Service Center (CSC) of USCIS has an enormous backlog of pending I-485 petitions. The United States has been the victim of a heinous terrorist campaign and I completely support implementing an adequate and rigorous security screening process for all foreign nationals, including myself, who wish to become permanent U.S. residents.

Recently, however, the CSC has implemented a disturbing practice of issuing RFE (request for evidence) as well as approvals for cases submitted after October 2002. Issuance of an RFE is usually a reliable indicator that the petition will be adjudicated soon.

While this certainly represents progress on part of the CSC, it conjures a confusing and frustrating scenario for applicants like myself, who submitted our petitions in January 2002. While we've been waiting patiently for over 26 months for adjudication, it seems that the CSC is making an expedient effort to show progress by skipping a year ahead to petitions filed in October 2002.

Processing delays in immigration benefits cause great hardships to the legal immigrant community. It adversely affects almost all aspects of our everyday lives. While I understand the importance of implementing security checks, I fail to comprehend the CSC's current practice of processing cases filed in late 2002 ahead of those filed in January 2002.

As a legal California resident and taxpayer, I request Senator xxx to make sure that the CSC process I-485 petitions in the order they were received. Immigrants like my family and myself have faced enormous hardships while waiting patiently for our permanent residency petitions to be adjudicated. The least we can expect from the California Service Center is that they process our petitions in the order received.

I would greatly appreciate it if the Senator could request CSC director Don Neufeld to explain this unfair I-485 processing practice. I am available for comment at XXXXXX or at XXXXXXXX. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,




Name
Address (they will not reply unless you give them a mailing address)
Tel: XXXXX
Email: XXXXXXX
Click to expand...
 
Code: 
Approvals in March 2004

169 3/22-26
222 3/15-19
 92 3/08-12
 99 3/01-05
---^------
573 TOTAL
The CSC has been recently approving almost double number of cases for a couple of weeks.
The number of RFEs issued shows the same trend.
However, with such a processing rate, the I-485 backlog is still growing
because the CSC has been receiving about 3,000 I-485 application a month in average.

Also, some resource has been used for late WAC02 and early WAC03 cases,
but considering WAC02 past trend, these luckly guys may be less than 5%.
The remaining 95% should have to wait until most of WAC02 cases being adjudicated.

I encourage everyone to wirte to two Senators and one Congressperson in your district.
For Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, I think it's not neccessary, but of course, you can ask something for your own case.

Also, I recommend to follow solarise's initiative.
 
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