Immigration Backlog Threatens Voting Rights

WASHINGTON -- Officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, say they anticipated an increase in the number of applicants for naturalization and permanent residency when fees were increased this past summer, but nothing prepared them for the avalanche of applications that showed up.

"In the July to August timeframe, about 2.5 million applications were received, roughly double the amount for the same period in [fiscal year] 2006," says CIS spokesman Bill Wright.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association says as many as 3.5 million applications are currently backloged, which is putting the agency months behind in even returning recepits for the checks.

In one case, a woman who lives and works in Boston told the Associated Press that she had gotten a recepit for a check she wrote back in late July for her citizenship application on November 9th.

Fees were increased for naturalization, legal residency, work permits, international adoptions and a host of other immigration benefits.

Wright says they are working to make sure people get their recepits.

"Every Friday evening, we put up on our website the latest numbers and the latest dates for when we're sending out receipts, and it's getting better."

But one man who has a unique and long-term perspective on the problems at Citizenship and Immigration Services still finds himself scratching his head and asking why.

"This is what we were totally surprised by, the lack of ability of the agency to receive these applications. Hundreds of millions of dollars sat for weeks and months."

Prakash Khatri is the Ombudsman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. His is a unique role, because while he works for the agency, he reports directly to a deputy secretary in Homeland Security and files his annual reports to Congressional committees.

"My hope is that with the lessons learned, the agency will become more transparent in the next few months."

The delay is even more troubling because of the potential to keep a number of applicants for citizenship from getting their final approval in time to vote in the 2008 presidential primaries and general elections.

Early estimates posted on CIS's website indicate it might take 16 to 18 months for the agency to completely process any applications filed after June 1st.

The spike in applications came in the months before Citizenship and Immigration Services raised all application fees, which went into effect on July 30th.

Costs for applying for citizenship rose from $330 to $595 and from $325 to $930 for legal residency. In both cases, applicants also must pay fingerprinting fees, which increased from $70 to $80.

The year and a half to nearly two year waits for naturalizations could hurt efforts of a coalition of groups trying to increase citizenship and voter registration among immigrants.

Khatri says that what's most disturbing to him is that what normally takes 3 to 5 months to process an application is taking that much time alone to get a receipt.

CIS' Bill Wright says his agency has taken steps to try to deal with the backlog, including placing a priority on naturalization applications.

"We projected an increase and we knew we were going to need more resources. Part of the rule was to bring on an additional 1,500 employees."

Wright adds that about 1,000 of those new workers are adjudicators, whose role it is to evaluate applications.

Ombudsman Khatri says that in the process of trying to gather information about the delays and the paperwork backlog at CIS as part of his oversight role, he was initially frustrated by internal roadblocks he encountered at the agency, which he says, "continued not to provide timely data to applicants, and even departmental agencies such as mine that are responsible for reviewing and looking at what the systemic causes for these problems are."

Khatri added that he was unable to obtain information about the problem between August and October and only in the last two weeks has information been forthcoming from agency officials.

Asked about the Ombudsman's complaint, CIS spokesman Wright says his agency is trying.

"I think we've been very open and very transparent with not only [the ombudsman], but all stakeholders on this issue. We recognize it's extremely important to work with him. We value his comments and recommendations."

For his part, Khatri says this latest application processing delay is symptomatic of deeper and more serious problems with CIS, which he says he has addressed to the Department of Homeland Security and Congress in the last of several Ombudsman's reports.

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On the Web:
Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) website CIS Ombudsman website

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