Feb. 8, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - Immigrants who waited years for their citizenship applications to be processed because of lengthy security checks claimed in a lawsuit Thursday that the delays violated their constitutional rights of due process.
The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court against the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, among others, seeks to enforce rules saying the government should make a decision on a citizenship application within 120 days of the applicant's interview.
The immigrants cleared traditional criminal background checks and other requirements only to wait years for clearance through the FBI's name-check process, through which all immigration applicants must pass since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the plaintiffs' attorneys said.
"The system is broken, and it's time to fix it," said Maya Harris, executive director of ACLU of Northern California, which filed the suit on behalf of eight immigrants, along with the Asian Law Caucus and the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Bay Area chapter.
Christopher Bentley, spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, defended the rigorous background checks as vital to national security.
"The American public expects that, as an agency, we won't grant a benefit such as citizenship to someone who is not qualified," he said. "We will not and do not grant any benefits until all background security clearances have been resolved."
The majority of the 35 million background checks the agency runs every year are cleared within nine months, Bentley said. The others require more research and can take years, he said.
Calls to the FBI were not immediately returned.
One plaintiff, Sana Jalili, is a Pakistani-born mother of two who has been living in the United States since she was 15. She grew up in upstate New York, married an American citizen and settled in Fremont, where she home-schools her daughters.
She applied for citizenship in December 2003, gave her fingerprints, passed a criminal background check and completed the final interview in September 2004. Although Jalili, 26, was told she'd be naturalized in three months at most, she's waited almost three years with no conclusion.
"We are continuously told the same message: that my name has gone for a background check," she said. "But how long does it take to complete a simple background check?"
Another plaintiff, Yinan Zhang, 32, came to the United States legally in 1995, and settled in San Francisco, where he takes care of his elderly father. He ted his citizenship application in July 2001, passed the citizenship test in September 2002 and has been waiting ever since for his clearance in the FBI name check.
"I was disappointed because I thought America's process is fair and efficient," Zhang said.
Completing these investigations as soon as possible is not only in the interest of the immigrants, who are unable to vote or apply to have close family members join them in the U.S. while they remain in legal limbo; it also would benefit national security, since the immigrants in question already are living here legally, attorneys said.
"If there are lawful permanent residents who pose a security risk, the government should discover that quickly and get to the bottom of any possible problems," said Cecillia D. Wang, senior attorney with ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project.
Three other lawsuits are pending around the country asking the government to act on citizenship applications within 120 days of the last interview.
But immigration officials changed their internal procedure in spring 2006, placing the FBI name check process before the interview, thus following the letter of the law while violating applicants' due process rights, said Sin Yen Ling, staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus.
The suit asks for a time limit within which the government much conclude the "name checks," for quick resolution of cases in which only the "name check" is pending, for a timely decision on similar applications in the future and for the speedy review of the plaintiffs' own applications.
SAN FRANCISCO - Immigrants who waited years for their citizenship applications to be processed because of lengthy security checks claimed in a lawsuit Thursday that the delays violated their constitutional rights of due process.
The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court against the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, among others, seeks to enforce rules saying the government should make a decision on a citizenship application within 120 days of the applicant's interview.
The immigrants cleared traditional criminal background checks and other requirements only to wait years for clearance through the FBI's name-check process, through which all immigration applicants must pass since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the plaintiffs' attorneys said.
"The system is broken, and it's time to fix it," said Maya Harris, executive director of ACLU of Northern California, which filed the suit on behalf of eight immigrants, along with the Asian Law Caucus and the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Bay Area chapter.
Christopher Bentley, spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, defended the rigorous background checks as vital to national security.
"The American public expects that, as an agency, we won't grant a benefit such as citizenship to someone who is not qualified," he said. "We will not and do not grant any benefits until all background security clearances have been resolved."
The majority of the 35 million background checks the agency runs every year are cleared within nine months, Bentley said. The others require more research and can take years, he said.
Calls to the FBI were not immediately returned.
One plaintiff, Sana Jalili, is a Pakistani-born mother of two who has been living in the United States since she was 15. She grew up in upstate New York, married an American citizen and settled in Fremont, where she home-schools her daughters.
She applied for citizenship in December 2003, gave her fingerprints, passed a criminal background check and completed the final interview in September 2004. Although Jalili, 26, was told she'd be naturalized in three months at most, she's waited almost three years with no conclusion.
"We are continuously told the same message: that my name has gone for a background check," she said. "But how long does it take to complete a simple background check?"
Another plaintiff, Yinan Zhang, 32, came to the United States legally in 1995, and settled in San Francisco, where he takes care of his elderly father. He ted his citizenship application in July 2001, passed the citizenship test in September 2002 and has been waiting ever since for his clearance in the FBI name check.
"I was disappointed because I thought America's process is fair and efficient," Zhang said.
Completing these investigations as soon as possible is not only in the interest of the immigrants, who are unable to vote or apply to have close family members join them in the U.S. while they remain in legal limbo; it also would benefit national security, since the immigrants in question already are living here legally, attorneys said.
"If there are lawful permanent residents who pose a security risk, the government should discover that quickly and get to the bottom of any possible problems," said Cecillia D. Wang, senior attorney with ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project.
Three other lawsuits are pending around the country asking the government to act on citizenship applications within 120 days of the last interview.
But immigration officials changed their internal procedure in spring 2006, placing the FBI name check process before the interview, thus following the letter of the law while violating applicants' due process rights, said Sin Yen Ling, staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus.
The suit asks for a time limit within which the government much conclude the "name checks," for quick resolution of cases in which only the "name check" is pending, for a timely decision on similar applications in the future and for the speedy review of the plaintiffs' own applications.
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