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Problems Plague Immigration Agency

Critics call for overhaul of inefficient, backlogged operations

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted May 28, 2007 7:46 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The agency that will have to deal with the avalanche of paperwork generated by immigration reform can't handle it, the Washington Post reports today. With over a million citizenship applications already stalled in the pipeline, Citizenship and Immigration (the former INS) faces the possibility that its workload will nearly triple, and critics are calling on Congress to step in.

The agency never fully recovered from the demand created by the 1986 amnesty, 9/11 and the creation of the Homeland Security Department. It covers a large chunk of its budget with applicant fees, which are set to jump as soon as this week, but critics say the combination of expense and delays amounts to an invitation to circumvent the law.

Left to right, Alfred Tecson from the Philippines, Ying Fang Kaplan from Taiwan, Anju Vajja from India and Srinivas, are sworn-in as new citizens of the United States, during a special naturalization ceremony for 50 new Americans in the Benjamin Franklin room at the State Department, Monday, April 23, 2007...
Left to right, Alfred Tecson from the Philippines, Ying Fang Kaplan from Taiwan, Anju Vajja from India and Srinivas, are sworn-in as new citizens of the United States, during a special naturalization...   (Associated Press)
Immigrants take the oath of U.S. citizenship during a naturalization ceremony Tuesday, May 22, 2007, in San Francisco. Approximately 1,420 people from 100 countries took the oath and became U.S. citizens. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Immigrants take the oath of U.S. citizenship during a naturalization ceremony Tuesday, May 22, 2007, in San Francisco. Approximately 1,420 people from 100 countries took the oath and became U.S. citizens....   (Associated Press)
U.S. Navy Petty Officer Reginald Cherubin, originally from Haiti, holds an U.S. flag before taking the oath of citizenship to the United States Monday, May 21, 2007, at a special naturalization ceremony at Mount Vernon, Va. One hundred people from 52 countries became U.S. citizens at the...
U.S. Navy Petty Officer Reginald Cherubin, originally from Haiti, holds an U.S. flag before taking the oath of citizenship to the United States Monday, May 21, 2007, at a special naturalization ceremony...   (Associated Press)
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immigration • immigration reform • citizenship • Citizenship and Immigration Services • reform

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