Press Release

On Citizenship Day, Cities and Local Organizations Push Eligible New Americans to Naturalize and Vote:

September 17, 2018

Immigrant Rights Groups Sue U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Over the Backlog of Citizenship Applications
Backlog in Applications Prevents Over 750,000 Immigrants From Becoming Citizens and Voting!

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)- On Citizenship Day, September 17, as the nation celebrates the ideals of full and inclusive citizenship, immigrant rights organizations and their attorneys are filing a lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) over the skyrocketing naturalization backlogs, and immigrant rights organizations are joining together to announce over 50 naturalization and “Unite the Vote” events from coast to coast across the nation. A copy of the complaint is available through this link.

During the last two and a half years over two million lawfully present immigrants have responded to the climate of anti-immigrant hate by applying to become U.S. citizens. Although the processing of these applications and background checks are fully funded by the $725 application fee of the immigrants themselves, USCIS has refused to allocate additional resources to the timely and professional processing of these applications. The result is that the naturalization backlog has skyrocketed to 753,000 applications, a 93% increase over what the backlog was as recently as late 2015.

On September 17, the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), joined by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), UnidosUS, Mi Familia Vota, CASA, OneAmerica, New York Immigration Coalition, Michigan United, and El Rescate, will file a lawsuit against USCIS in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. 

The lawsuit is based on the agency’s failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to produce documents related to the backlog of citizenship applications. NPNA, a coalition of 37 immigrant and refugee rights groups, filed FOIA request on August 6. The request is seeking to uncover racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination by USCIS leadership, arbitrariness in the agency’s processing of citizenship applications, and intentional increases to the backlog for the purpose of voter suppression.

“The Trump administration’s policy of creating unnecessary obstacles to long-term resident immigrants naturalizing and becoming United States citizens is irrational, illegal and unconscionable. It is a not very well camouflaged form of voter suppression,” said Peter Schey, President of the CHRCL and legal counsel for the FOIA requesting parties. “The internal documents we are now seeking under the Freedom of Information Act will shed light on this illegal covert program and allow us to assess how litigation may be used to end the administration’s voter suppression program. Immigrants should be encouraged, not actively discouraged, to become citizens and play a more active role in the civic life of society.”

This effort comes as the growing chorus of advocates, including over 50 Congressional members and nearly 50 Mayors and County Executives, are demanding answers from USCIS, which handles naturalization applications, as to why the backlog of applications has increased, while the wait times for the USCIS’s processing has slowed down, in some cases reaching over 20 months.

“Applying for citizenship is a dream come true for many and a key step towards full participating in our democracy. For the good of the nation, the benefit of families, and our democratic processes, the backlog and wait times must be reduced immediately,” said Angelica Salas, of the Executive Committee of NPNA and Executive Director of CHIRLA.

“The adjudication of applications for citizenship should be timely, fair, and equitable, and we intend to hold USCIS fully accountable for its performance,” said Janet Murguia, President and CEO of UnidosUS.“We demand an explanation for the unacceptable growth in citizenship backlogs and processing times.” 
The backlog of citizenship applications is at the unprecedented amount of 753,352 applications, as of the end of March 2018. At the current rate of processing applications, it would take USCIS over 25 years to get the current rate down to the Obama administration’s backlog level of 380,639 applications in 2015, not including new applications. The “Second Wall,” as NPNA and its partners are calling it, is preventing hundreds of thousands of immigrants from becoming citizens and becoming voters.

“Becoming a citizen of the United States does not mean giving up your past; it means freedom to start a new life in a country that embraces diversity,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “Our forefathers fought for the ideals of tolerance and inclusion and in Chicago, we will continue fighting to uphold these fundamental values and welcome and support our newest Americans.”

“One of the most important ways that we can empower marginalized people is to grant those who are eligible naturalization so they can play a robust role in civic affairs and participate in democratic elections. The Trump administration is unreasonably slowing down the naturalization process for no legitimate national security reason. Immigrants who become citizens are finally able to fully integrate into the social, political, and economic life in the United States. Slowing down this process is completely contrary to the ideals upon which our nation was founded.” said Maria Elena Durazo, Vice President of UNITE HERE. “On Citizenship Day I hope people all around the country pause to think about the wide-ranging contributions immigrants make to our country and commit themselves to support comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship, and naturalization for immigrants who have lived here lawfully for many years and now wish to strengthen their attachment to our nation.” 

In July, NPNA launched a national campaign, consisting of a coalition of elected officials, community partners, labor unions, faith institutions and other stakeholders, demanding a reduced backlog and waiting times for naturalization applications to be processed.

In late June, over 50 Representatives sent a letter to USCIS scrutinizing the backlog and calling for USCIS to reduce the waiting time for processing applications. In late July, nearly 50 Mayors and County Executives sent a letter to the agency condemning the backlog and demanding action as well. In early August, NPNA and other immigrant rights organizations filed the FOIA request with USCIS, but, to date, have received no response. Today, they are announcing the lawsuit, demanding that USCIS be transparent and accountable to the public as to why the second wall is preventing over 753,000 immigrants from citizenship and voting. 

Despite the second wall, NPNA and its partner organizations are committed to ensuring that all eligible and interested lawful permanent residents become citizens, and that the ideals of full and inclusive citizenship are fully realized.

These growing backlogs mainly impact cities and their USCIS field offices. At the end of March 2018:

·         New York City had a backlog of 81,206 applications;
·         Houston had a backlog of 42,341 applications;
·         Dallas had a backlog of 38,094 applications;
·         San Francisco had a backlog of 27,481 applications;
·         Chicago had a backlog of 27,238 applications;
·         Newark had a backlog of 26,146 applications;
·         Atlanta had a backlog of 21,006 applications;
·         Baltimore had a backlog of 20,485 applications;
·         Seattle had a backlog of 18,707 applications;
·         Miami had a backlog of 17,955 applications;
·         Los Angeles County had a backlog of 17,570 applications;
·         Philadelphia had a backlog of 17,336 applications;
·         St. Paul had a backlog of 16,762 applications;
·         Los Angeles City had a backlog of 16,614 applications; and
·         The District of Columbia had a backlog of 16,564 applications.