Latinos Seek Citizenship in Time for Voting: Bush admin. stalls hundreds of thousands of petitions

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: New York Times

By JULIA PRESTON
Published: March 7, 2008

A lawsuit filed Thursday in a federal court in New York by Latino immigrants seeks to force immigration authorities to complete hundreds of thousands of stalled naturalization petitions in time for the new citizens to vote in November.

The class-action suit was brought by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of legal Hispanic immigrants in the New York City area who are eager to vote and have been waiting for years for the federal Citizenship and Immigration Services agency to finish their applications. The suit demands that the agency meet a nationwide deadline of Sept. 22 to complete any naturalization petitions filed by March 26.

Latino groups hope to summon the clout of the federal courts to compel the Bush administration to reduce a backlog of citizenship applications that swelled last year. According to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, more than one million citizenship petitions were backed up in the pipeline by the end of December, the majority from Latino immigrants.

Despite protests over the delays from lawmakers, Latino groups and immigrant advocates, the immigration agency is currently projecting wait times of 16 months to 18 months to process the petitions.

“The reality is that large numbers of Latinos will not be able to vote in the elections because of these delays,” said Cesar A. Perales, president of the defense fund. “Now the world will know that the Latino community expects the Bush administration to get this done on time.”...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/us/07immig.html

[High Plains]

1. "One million citizenship petitions backed up..."

Gee, could that have anything to do with why people cross the border informally?

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Good point! Speeding this process up could, by itself, eliminate some border problems. nt

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

5. People who apply for naturalization

have been permanent residents of the U.S. (that is, with green cards) for at least 3-5 years. Hence, they are here legally. A person crossing the border without inspection (that is, illegally) cannot, under today's immigration law, obtain a permanent residence and become US citizen.

With that being said, it is not just naturalization applications by Latinos that are pending. Indeed, all petitions/applications to USCIS are delayed.

FYI, filing fees increased after July 31, 2007. Hence, thousands of people filed thousands of petitions/applications before the deadline, causing enormous delays in processing.

I wish the press were better informed about the immigration process.

Note: I've been an immigration professional for 9 years.

[WCGreen]

3. I think it's that they just didn't want them to vote...

Or another example of the utter incompetence of the Bush Administration...

[DeepModem Mom]

4. I'm assuming that is absolutely the purpose -- they don't want them to vote...

because they will vote overwhelmingly Dem.

[EFerrari]

8. This is just one of the 50 tactics the Republicans are using

to shave our votes. They know Latinos break for us.

[AlphaCentauri]

13. that's been their plan for a long time

1997

SPOKESMAN: Who needs to register to vote?

KWAME HOLMAN: But last year voter registration groups, like this one camped outside a naturalization ceremony at Boston's Thaneuil Hall, began targeting the new citizens. That prompted some Republicans to claim the Clinton administration's push to naturalize was, in part, an effort to recruit Democratic voters before the November election.

SPOKESMAN: I'm voting for a Democrat because I'm from the minority.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/march97/citizen_3-4.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. K&R!

More scummy tactics from the * admin...:grr:

[LibertyLover]

7. Good luck on getting that agency to move quickly on anything

4 years ago we brought our daughter home from China. Thanks to a law signed by President Clinton, she was, from the moment we cleared Customs and Immigration at LAX, a citizen. But because we brought her home prior to December, 2003, we still had to apply for her citizenship papers. I put the application very shortly after we got home, in mid November, 2003 as a matter of fact. It took them almost 2 years to get the paperwork to me. 2 freaking years for what was a no-brainer. We didn't get her papers until October, 2005. I truly wish all these applicants well and hope that they get processed successfully. They deserve to be able to vote in this year's election.

[superkia]

9. If they get it done, kudos to them. The government really doesnt...

listen to anything any of us have to say or at least they don't actually do anything about it. I would be impressed if something was done at all and not even for a political advantage for a side, just because we don't have enough money to change laws or anything.

[jazzjunkysue]

10. Send them in with I love bush t-shirts, and they'll be through by thursday noon.

[tanyev]

11. My Canadian hubby was hoping to be able to vote in this election, too.

It's not gonna happen. :(

[AlphaCentauri]

12. We can say: Se Habla Español

new citizens, welcome to the democratic party.