Seattle Officials Urge Trump Administration to Address the Naturalization Backlog

[Dashinka 24,493]

Thought this was an interesting article I found in another forum.  I loved the last paragraph!  The subject sentence is correct, but the example they choose to use made me laugh a bit.

 

 

 

Seattle has long welcomed the naturalization of legal permanent residents by offering free citizenship workshops to help immigrants navigate the sometimes lengthy process.

For instance, the city began combining state and local funding in 1998 to support non-profits that offer services for immigrants seeking citizenship. Then in 2016, the city created the New Citizen Campaign to provide legal assistance, citizenship education and outreach to thousands of local residents.

Such efforts have become all the more essential following the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, which spurred an unprecedented amount of green card holders to apply for citizenship nationwide. The increase in applications further burdened U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)’s already beleaguered system, resulting in longer naturalization wait times.

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In an attempt to dissolve the proverbial wall, the Seattle City Council joined Durkan’s call for clearing the naturalization backlog by passing a resolution denouncing the increased delays on Aug. 13. The resolution states that Washington now has the ninth largest citizenship application backlog in the nation with over 20,000 pending applications, most of which are in Seattle.

It noted that the increased wait times reflected broader changes at USCIS following Cissna’s appointment, including the agency’s recent change of its mission statement to remove the phrase “nation of immigrants.” The recent changes have contributed to a reduction in “legal pathways to immigration,” the resolution states.

Along with condemning the increased processing times, the resolution demands that “USCIS urgently take specific, measurable and actionable steps to reduce the backlog and the waiting time for processing applications down to no longer than six months, consistent with past practice.”

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The backlog has prevented Seattle-area residents who have applied for naturalization from enjoying the freedom of mobility. A Washington resident for nearly 30 years, Verde San Juan, is one such immigrant who has waited 11 months for his citizenship application to be processed. “I’ve never really travelled, and now that I have the opportunity for U.S. citizenship, it’s a huge obstacle because I can’t leave the country while I’m waiting for my interview,” San Juan said in a statement.

 

https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/seattle-officials-urge-trump-administration-to-address-the-naturalization-backlog/

[Boiler 45,486]

Wonder why he can not leave the Country?

[Dashinka 24,493]

48 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Wonder why he can not leave the Country?

Was wondering that myself, and the comment that all of the sudden since he filed his N400 he decided to leave the country after going nearly 30 years without traveling.

[Boiler 45,486]

Something that may complicate his return?