This will be interesting.
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isGCtheKey?
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Preview
Webcast is available and it should be on CSPAN (1,2,3) either live or delayed.
Here is a preview from the Gannet News Service and The Salt Lake Tribune: Eduardo Aguirre is still singing the same old song: " The right applicant with the right benefit in the right amount of time"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Note: This song has been repeated at least ten times in the Congress, the Senate, in Canada, the Summit Institute, the Nixon Center, in the MPI meeting, etc....Enjoy the preview!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
U.S. plans better immigration services
By Sergio Bustos
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will unveil an aggressive
strategy Thursday to eliminate a staggering backlog of immigration
applications over the next two years.
The plan is designed to ease the process for millions of immigrants
seeking to become legal residents and U.S. citizens.
Eduardo Aguirre, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services, the agency charged with serving newcomers to the United
States, said he will modernize computer systems, shift personnel to
district offices with high numbers of cases, and create a culture of
customer service to reduce the pile of 3.7 million backlogged
applications.
"Our goal is to process the right applicant with the right benefit in the
right amount of time," Aguirre said in an interview Wednesday with
Gannett News Service.
Aguirre will outline further details when he testifies Thursday before
the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, border security and
claims. The committee is reviewing the "detrimental impact" of the
application backlog on families of those seeking legal residency and
citizenship.
Plans to improve services for immigrants come in an election year
when Citizenship and Immigration Services has been widely criticized by
immigrant advocates and Hispanic organizations for failing to process
immigration applications in a timely manner. The criticism only grew
louder this year when the agency raised filing fees on more than two
dozen immigration forms.
Aguirre said the 2001 terrorist attacks forced his agency to closely
scrutinize applicants by requiring more extensive background checks.
The agency's new goal is to eliminate the backlog of applications and
process applications within six months by Sept. 30, 2006, fulfilling a
promise President Bush made during his 2000 presidential campaign.
Aguirre said the agency
will move adjudicators --
those who review
immigration applications --
between district offices to
reduce the backlog of
applications and improve
wait times. They also plan
to identify "low-risk"
applicants and encourage
adjudicators to make
decisions without
requesting further evidence
on routine cases.
"We are not weakening
the system with these
changes, but improving
them," Aguirre said.
Immigration advocates said the agency's latest plan doesn't go far
enough in serving the country's 33 million foreign-born residents. "These
are welcome reforms, but the agency can't get away from the fact that it
needs more money to do the job," said Judy Golub, of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association. "They need to upgrade their computer
systems, and that costs money. They need to hire more full-time staff,
and that costs money."
Webcast is available and it should be on CSPAN (1,2,3) either live or delayed.
Here is a preview from the Gannet News Service and The Salt Lake Tribune: Eduardo Aguirre is still singing the same old song: " The right applicant with the right benefit in the right amount of time"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Note: This song has been repeated at least ten times in the Congress, the Senate, in Canada, the Summit Institute, the Nixon Center, in the MPI meeting, etc....Enjoy the preview!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
U.S. plans better immigration services
By Sergio Bustos
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will unveil an aggressive
strategy Thursday to eliminate a staggering backlog of immigration
applications over the next two years.
The plan is designed to ease the process for millions of immigrants
seeking to become legal residents and U.S. citizens.
Eduardo Aguirre, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services, the agency charged with serving newcomers to the United
States, said he will modernize computer systems, shift personnel to
district offices with high numbers of cases, and create a culture of
customer service to reduce the pile of 3.7 million backlogged
applications.
"Our goal is to process the right applicant with the right benefit in the
right amount of time," Aguirre said in an interview Wednesday with
Gannett News Service.
Aguirre will outline further details when he testifies Thursday before
the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, border security and
claims. The committee is reviewing the "detrimental impact" of the
application backlog on families of those seeking legal residency and
citizenship.
Plans to improve services for immigrants come in an election year
when Citizenship and Immigration Services has been widely criticized by
immigrant advocates and Hispanic organizations for failing to process
immigration applications in a timely manner. The criticism only grew
louder this year when the agency raised filing fees on more than two
dozen immigration forms.
Aguirre said the 2001 terrorist attacks forced his agency to closely
scrutinize applicants by requiring more extensive background checks.
The agency's new goal is to eliminate the backlog of applications and
process applications within six months by Sept. 30, 2006, fulfilling a
promise President Bush made during his 2000 presidential campaign.
Aguirre said the agency
will move adjudicators --
those who review
immigration applications --
between district offices to
reduce the backlog of
applications and improve
wait times. They also plan
to identify "low-risk"
applicants and encourage
adjudicators to make
decisions without
requesting further evidence
on routine cases.
"We are not weakening
the system with these
changes, but improving
them," Aguirre said.
Immigration advocates said the agency's latest plan doesn't go far
enough in serving the country's 33 million foreign-born residents. "These
are welcome reforms, but the agency can't get away from the fact that it
needs more money to do the job," said Judy Golub, of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association. "They need to upgrade their computer
systems, and that costs money. They need to hire more full-time staff,
and that costs money."