Legal marijuana workers blast U.S. citizenship denials over work
Source: Associated Press
APRIL 4, 2019 / 6:57 AM / AP
U.S. immigration authorities blocked two immigrants' applications for citizenship because of their work in Colorado's marijuana industry, their attorneys and Denver officials said, accusing the Trump administration of quietly targeting immigrants seeking jobs in the growing field.
Oswaldo Barrientos said he began working in the marijuana industry in 2014, inspired by the research he had done into medical products after his mother's skin cancer diagnosis. He was brought to the U.S. from El Salvador as an infant and was granted a green card when he was 13.
He assumed the citizenship application process would be simple. The 30-year-old is fluent in English and said he has no criminal history, pays taxes and graduated high school. But during an in-person interview in November, the interviewer became focused on Barrientos' job with a state-licensed company that grows marijuana, he said.
Weeks later, he got a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denying him because of his job, his lawyers said.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legal-marijuana-workers-blast-u-s-citizenship-denials-over-work/
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