US Citizenship question "RACE"

[brown81]

I’m about to apply for citizenship and I have a question difficult to give a clear and easy answer. It is related to the question of “Race”.
I don’t know exactly what to answer:
In the part 5 of N-400 application it says. Are you Hispanic or Latino? Yes or NO. I answered yes. Because I am Hispanic.
The most confusing part is the following sentence:
RACE: White, Asian, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.
My two last names are Spanish. By genealogy, I have Spanish ancestors. If you know me in person, I am brown with dark hair. I don’t look white, I don’t belong to any American tribe or Indian, I am not black or Asian. I am Hispanic with 2 Spanish last names. How can I answer correctly this question? Thanks!

 

[baikal3]

I’m about to apply for citizenship and I have a question difficult to give a clear and easy answer. It is related to the question of “Race”.
I don’t know exactly what to answer:
In the part 5 of N-400 application it says. Are you Hispanic or Latino? Yes or NO. I answered yes. Because I am Hispanic.
The most confusing part is the following sentence:
RACE: White, Asian, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.
My two last names are Spanish. By genealogy, I have Spanish ancestors. If you know me in person, I am brown with dark hair. I don’t look white, I don’t belong to any American tribe or Indian, I am not black or Asian. I am Hispanic with 2 Spanish last names. How can I answer correctly this question? Thanks!

In part 5, question E you have to check the "White" box.

 

[cafeconleche]

It's a badly designed section on the application.

 

[Bobsmyth]

If you don't identify yourself as white, you can add a box called "other" and write "Hispanic". Don't worry, you'll be able to clarify the question with IO at interview.

 

[baikal3]

If you don't identify yourself as white, you can add a box called "other" and write "Hispanic". Don't worry, you'll be able to clarify the question with IO at interview.

I would not do that.
The N-400 form states that the answers to the questions in part 5 are "those required by the FBI" and the N-400 instructions make it clear that FBI uses this info for its background check.
Adding a new box yourself to question E in part 5 may screw up something with the FBI Name Check and whatever else the FBI is doing as a part of the background checks. The FBI probably have their computers set up in a particular way to process the N-400 data and altering the format of part 5 by hand may mess them up and result in an extra delay. No point in risking that.

 

[Bobsmyth]

The N-400 form states that the answers to the questions in part 5 are "those required by the FBI" and the N-400 instructions make it clear that FBI uses this info for its background check.
.

An applicant can't be forced to answer something they've never identified themself with.
Plus, FBI recognizes Hispanic as a race in their NICS database since many police departments and the ATF (form 4473) use Hispanic as race option in their records sent to the FBI. This being said, I highly doubt that adding a box marked Hispanic would cause an extra delay in the background check.

 

[baikal3]

This being said, I highly doubt that adding a box marked Hispanic would cause an extra delay in the background check.

I don't now about that. To a large extent both the USCIS and the FBI are mindless bureaucracies and if they, or their computers, encounter some nonstandard situation, they frequently choke up. It could well be that the info from part 5 of N-400 has to be entered into some FBI computer when the background checks are initiated, and who knows what happens if that computer program encounters a blank field where an answer is expected.
I very much dislike the racial classification boxes in various forms myself (especially the "white" category, which is essentially meaningless and whose existence, in my opinion, actually promotes racism and leads to all kinds of nonsense) and try to avoid them as much as possible. However, an N-400 application does not strike me as a good place for staging a "protest action", so to speak.

 

[cafeconleche]

Interesting. Didn't know that this was used for the background check. I choose Asian, but that is as arbitrary as White, IMO. The whole classification system is outdated.

 

[Bobsmyth]

.. or their computers, encounter some nonstandard situation, they frequently choke up.

Based on what?

It could well be that the info from part 5 of N-400 has to be entered into some FBI computer when the background checks are initiated, and who knows what happens if that computer program encounters a blank field where an answer is expected.

Information from part 5 isn't entered into a FBI computer; It's compared with what the FBI already has on file. USCIS manually enters the data into their own system which then transfers the required fields into a batch file sent to the FBI for comparison. Only certain entries are accepted in the file, so if the USCIS encounters a blank entry for race likely either a blank entry or unknown will be accepted. Applications are intelligent enough to recognize blank entries without having to choke up.

 

[baikal3]

Based on what?

In terms of computer screw-ups at USCIS, I admit that I do not have any direct experience. However, in terms of non-standard situations leading to screw-ups and delays at USCIS, I do have personal direct experience as do several of my friends.
E.g. after my I-485 was approved back in 2002, I went to the Chicago DO to get I-551 stamp plus to get my signature and fingerprints taken for the card production (in those days this post-processing step was still required). Then INS proceeded to lose the card production paperwork somewhere between the Chicago DO and the card production facility. It took me over 2 years after that to actually get the physical card (despite a large number of visits to the DO, service inquiries, etc). Eventually the only thing that broke the logjam was a congressional inquiry through Sen Durbin. I was later told by Durbin's office that my file was simply sitting in some long drawer awaiting supervisor review, and that nobody knew what to do because the situation was fairly nonstandard for them.

Also, I don't know about the FBI, but I do know that some other big federal agencies have computer systems that can be very stubborn and inflexible. E.g. in my line of work as a university professor I need to deal with the National Science Foundation when I submit my grant research proposals. Their computer system (ironically called Fastlane) simply refuses to accept a proposal for transmittal until I check the "race" classification box (I complained about it, but, of course, to no avail). One can argue with a person but you can't argue with a computer, and ultimately I want to get a grant more than I want to make a point about the stupidity of the race categorization used.

 

[Vorpal]

@brown81:

Spaniards can be considered either hispanic or caucasian. Since you have Spanish ancestry, you can technically indicate "white" on the application. However, you may want to clarify that with the IO at your interview.

My wife is of Puerto Rican/Domincan descent and has indicated "caucasian" on various applications (none pertaining to USCIS) that lacked the "hispanic" classification.