denver & the west
Quest to be citizen slows
Muslim immigrants often wait years for a background check to become Americans. But officials say they re not being singled out.
By Bruce Finley
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 12/10/2006 09:37:01 AM MST
Zuhair Mahd, a Palestinian refugee, did everything right to create a successful life as an American. With much to offer, he can't pass security clearances without citizenship. His application has been hung up for two years awaiting an FBI background check. (Denver Post / Brian Brainerd)Zuhair Mahd of Denver made all the right moves to become a U.S. citizen after escaping poverty and rejection as a blind Palestinian-refugee teenager in Jordan.
He found a banker to buy him a ticket to Boston. He excelled in U.S. schools. He pioneered Arabic text-to-speech software and worked for IBM, honing skills that recruiters for the CIA and other agencies covet for the war on terrorism.
Then he applied for citizenship, passed the tests and waited for an FBI background check.
And waited. And waited.
After waiting for two years, Mahd, 33, sued the FBI.
Now his case is pending in federal court along with hundreds of other lawsuits nationwide by Muslims who made the grade to become citizens but have been delayed while waiting for FBI checks for up to five years.
Applicants for U.S. citizenship come from many nations and cultures, but most of the lawsuits filed recently in Colorado involve Muslim immigrants.
Federal law says immigrants who pass citizenship tests must be granted citizenship in 120 days.
The lawsuits are getting results. An internal government memo indicates suing can accelerate FBI action.
Yet the core problem is getting worse: a mounting FBI backlog of unfinished background checks as the nation seeks greater protection against terrorism. Today's backlog tops 440,000.
FBI officials won't say how many of those waiting for background checks are Muslims but insist that the agency is not targeting any particular group.
"There is a backlog," Special Agent Jeff Lanza said at FBI headquarters in Washington. "We're not using 'backlog' as a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims."
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the government began requiring FBI background checks on all immigrants poised to become citizens, increasing the FBI's workload to about 4 million checks a year. The checks are seen as essential to weed out terrorists.
Now these very delays are raising security concerns. People whose names trigger computer "hits" against federal databases remain in the country for years.
"If there are concerns about these people, why are we just letting them sit here?" said Crystal Williams, deputy director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a pro-immigration group in Washington.
"This system isn't working ... and nobody's taking responsibility," Williams said.
The delays also foster ill will - just as the U.S. government launches a new campaign to persuade more eligible immigrants to apply for citizenship. Record numbers choose not to apply.
"This is injurious in so many ways. You're sitting here, singled out, hanging, with no indication why it's taking so long," Jordanian immigrant Mahd said last week during a defense industry job fair in Colorado Springs.
There, a recruiter who initially was eager to hire him balked when he learned Mahd still lacked the citizenship required for security clearances.
FBI agents twice visited him at home in Denver, he said, asking if he'd be willing to work as an informant or monitor online chat rooms for anything suspicious.
"I told them I'm not willing to fill in the blanks when I don't know the full story," he said.
"Why the delay? What did I do?"
Hundreds of lawsuits against the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are pending in federal courts nationwide, including class-action cases in California, Illinois and New York, according to judicial records and attorneys.
The lawsuits ask judges to order completion of background checks - or waive the checks - so that citizenship is granted within 120 days as required.
In Colorado, 31 of the lawsuits have been filed this year. At least 10 cases recently were settled, with the FBI agreeing to expedite checks, presumably encouraging more lawsuits. At least 21 cases by 26 plaintiffs are pending, and federal attorneys report a couple of new lawsuits filed every week.
Colorado Muslim leaders warn that citizenship delays feed a deepening discontent.
Quest to be citizen slows
Muslim immigrants often wait years for a background check to become Americans. But officials say they re not being singled out.
By Bruce Finley
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 12/10/2006 09:37:01 AM MST
Zuhair Mahd, a Palestinian refugee, did everything right to create a successful life as an American. With much to offer, he can't pass security clearances without citizenship. His application has been hung up for two years awaiting an FBI background check. (Denver Post / Brian Brainerd)Zuhair Mahd of Denver made all the right moves to become a U.S. citizen after escaping poverty and rejection as a blind Palestinian-refugee teenager in Jordan.
He found a banker to buy him a ticket to Boston. He excelled in U.S. schools. He pioneered Arabic text-to-speech software and worked for IBM, honing skills that recruiters for the CIA and other agencies covet for the war on terrorism.
Then he applied for citizenship, passed the tests and waited for an FBI background check.
And waited. And waited.
After waiting for two years, Mahd, 33, sued the FBI.
Now his case is pending in federal court along with hundreds of other lawsuits nationwide by Muslims who made the grade to become citizens but have been delayed while waiting for FBI checks for up to five years.
Applicants for U.S. citizenship come from many nations and cultures, but most of the lawsuits filed recently in Colorado involve Muslim immigrants.
Federal law says immigrants who pass citizenship tests must be granted citizenship in 120 days.
The lawsuits are getting results. An internal government memo indicates suing can accelerate FBI action.
Yet the core problem is getting worse: a mounting FBI backlog of unfinished background checks as the nation seeks greater protection against terrorism. Today's backlog tops 440,000.
FBI officials won't say how many of those waiting for background checks are Muslims but insist that the agency is not targeting any particular group.
"There is a backlog," Special Agent Jeff Lanza said at FBI headquarters in Washington. "We're not using 'backlog' as a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims."
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the government began requiring FBI background checks on all immigrants poised to become citizens, increasing the FBI's workload to about 4 million checks a year. The checks are seen as essential to weed out terrorists.
Now these very delays are raising security concerns. People whose names trigger computer "hits" against federal databases remain in the country for years.
"If there are concerns about these people, why are we just letting them sit here?" said Crystal Williams, deputy director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a pro-immigration group in Washington.
"This system isn't working ... and nobody's taking responsibility," Williams said.
The delays also foster ill will - just as the U.S. government launches a new campaign to persuade more eligible immigrants to apply for citizenship. Record numbers choose not to apply.
"This is injurious in so many ways. You're sitting here, singled out, hanging, with no indication why it's taking so long," Jordanian immigrant Mahd said last week during a defense industry job fair in Colorado Springs.
There, a recruiter who initially was eager to hire him balked when he learned Mahd still lacked the citizenship required for security clearances.
FBI agents twice visited him at home in Denver, he said, asking if he'd be willing to work as an informant or monitor online chat rooms for anything suspicious.
"I told them I'm not willing to fill in the blanks when I don't know the full story," he said.
"Why the delay? What did I do?"
Hundreds of lawsuits against the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are pending in federal courts nationwide, including class-action cases in California, Illinois and New York, according to judicial records and attorneys.
The lawsuits ask judges to order completion of background checks - or waive the checks - so that citizenship is granted within 120 days as required.
In Colorado, 31 of the lawsuits have been filed this year. At least 10 cases recently were settled, with the FBI agreeing to expedite checks, presumably encouraging more lawsuits. At least 21 cases by 26 plaintiffs are pending, and federal attorneys report a couple of new lawsuits filed every week.
Colorado Muslim leaders warn that citizenship delays feed a deepening discontent.
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