Two dozen would-be citizens convened outside the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) office in Chicago yesterday hoping to raise awareness about backlogs in citizenship approval that are keeping them from participating in civic life.
According to Chicago Public Radio, CIS received a record 1.4 million naturalization applications nationwide last year, many of which arrived before fees rose dramatically in August. In fact, the agency saw a 350 percent increase in applications in June and July 2007 over the same period the previous year. Given the glut, many of the applications are still awaiting approval. But not in Chicago, says the Chicago District Director Marilou Cabrera, who addressed the crowd. She claims Chicago's office had no backlogs and processing is averaging eight-and-half months when the applications aren’t complex.
Two elderly immigrants with personal experience disagreed. One of the women, who has lived in the country for 50 years and would like to ensure her citizenship so she can cast a ballot in the 2008 elections, says she's been waiting since July to hear a final verdict.
Image courtesy of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Sandra on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 20:31
This story was on NPR today, too- seems like another way to keep (brown/black) people from voting?
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=20815
The woman who was here for 50 years and passed her citizenship test should surely get to vote in November!
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