PHOENIX (By Daniel Gonzแlez, Arizona Republic)
October 11, 2004 -
Despite significantly reducing backlogs, the Phoenix office of U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services still has some of the longest waiting
periods for processing green card and citizenship applications in the
nation.
The long wait times produce a list of cascading consequences that extend beyond mere inconvenience, from prolonging family unification to contributing to illegal immigration.
And the wait times, although steadily improving, also send a message that contradicts the United States' long-standing reputation of being a nation that welcomes immigrants, advocates say.
Immigrants such as Andr้s Molina of Phoenix must wait more than two years for their green card applications to be processed, compared with 11 months on average nationally, according to immigration officials. Those seeking citizenship through the Phoenix office must wait eight months compared with six months nationally.
"It's ridiculous that a government agency takes so long to process applications," said Judy Flanagan, a Phoenix immigration lawyer, pointing out that immigrants are a constituency with little political clout. "They are immigrants, and I think that has a lot to do with it."
Stephen Fickett, district director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Phoenix, praised the progress his office has made reducing backlogs. But he agreed that more work needs to be done.
"We are very proud of how far we've come, but we're not where we want to be," Fickett said.
Four years ago, immigrants in Phoenix typically waited 46 months for green cards applications and 42 months for citizenship applications to be processed, among the worst wait times in the nation.
Now the processing time in Phoenix has been cut to 24 months for green cards and about seven months for citizenship, Fickett said.
The processing dates posted on the official CIS Web site, however, show the wait time in Phoenix is 27 months for green cards and eight months for citizenship. Fickett calls those figures conservative.
Still, a review of wait times for green card and citizenship applications at the Phoenix office compared with other large U.S. cities puts Phoenix among the worst.
For example, the wait time for green card applications in El Paso (three months), San Diego (five months), Los Angeles (six months), Dallas (six months), Albuquerque (seven months), San Francisco (seven months), Tucson (nine months), Denver (nine months), and Las Vegas (12 months) are all well under the 27-month wait for green card applications to be processed in Phoenix.
Fickett said the Phoenix office was overwhelmed by a flood of applications in the late 1990s but more efficient management and technological improvements have helped reduce the backlogs after the former Immigration and Naturalization Service was divided into two agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The changes have allowed the office to reduce the backlog of people waiting for green cards through the Phoenix office from 16,336 in August 2002 to 6,583 in August 2004.
The backlog of people waiting for citizenship has also dropped, from 7,041 in August 2002 to 4,742 in August 2004, Fickett said.
Fickett anticipates the wait for green card applications in Phoenix will be cut to six months by Oct. 1, and to six months for citizenship applications by the end of this month. That would exceed President Bush's goal of reducing wait times to six months for both green cards and citizenship applications by Sept. 30.
He did not dispute that the backlogs create hardships for immigrants and contribute to illegal immigration.
But he said he is committed to fulfilling CIS Director Eduardo Aguirre's stated goal of delivering "world-class customer service" to people applying for immigration benefits.
Crystal Williams, senior director of liaison and information at the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C., said several CIS offices across the country, including the one in Phoenix, have begun sending green card applications to a central processing office in Missouri.
"It's extremely deceiving to say they have reduced backlogs on green card applications," Williams said.
Al Gallmann, assistant district director, confirmed that beginning on Oct. 1, 2004, the Phoenix office started sending new green card applications to a central office in Lee's Summit, near Kansas City.
But he said those applications, about 400 a month, are factored in the current two-year backlog.
Emilia Ba๑uelos, a Phoenix immigration lawyer, also questioned whether the CIS office in Phoenix has actually reduced its backlog. She said she has noticed an increase in the number of green card applications being denied in Phoenix.
The Phoenix office interviewed 8,000 green card applicants during the past 12 months, and 2,000 cases, or 25 percent, were denied, Fickett said.
He attributed the high denial rate to the state's large undocumented immigrant population. Many undocumented immigrants are not eligible for green cards, he said.
Meanwhile, immigrants like Andr้s Molina feel frustrated by the long waits.
Applicants for green cards are often prohibited from returning if they leave the country while their cases are pending.
"I haven't seen my father in 15 years. I can't go see my family," Molina, an immigrant from Agua Prieta, Sonora, said as he waited for his green card interview clutching a file stuffed with documents.
The long wait times keep families separated and sometimes cause immigrants to lose their benefits, either because deadlines expire or the relative petitioning on their behalf dies, immigrant advocates say.
The long wait times also unnecessarily prolong the citizenship process because immigrants cannot apply for citizenship until they have been permanent residents for at least three years, advocates say.
The long wait times also contribute to the size of the undocumented immigrant population by discouraging immigrants here from applying for residency and encouraging others to enter the country illegally rather than wait for years for their application to be processed, advocates say.
"Any process that takes that long is really intimidating," said Margarita Silva, a Phoenix immigration lawyer.
The long wait times produce a list of cascading consequences that extend beyond mere inconvenience, from prolonging family unification to contributing to illegal immigration.
And the wait times, although steadily improving, also send a message that contradicts the United States' long-standing reputation of being a nation that welcomes immigrants, advocates say.
Immigrants such as Andr้s Molina of Phoenix must wait more than two years for their green card applications to be processed, compared with 11 months on average nationally, according to immigration officials. Those seeking citizenship through the Phoenix office must wait eight months compared with six months nationally.
"It's ridiculous that a government agency takes so long to process applications," said Judy Flanagan, a Phoenix immigration lawyer, pointing out that immigrants are a constituency with little political clout. "They are immigrants, and I think that has a lot to do with it."
Stephen Fickett, district director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Phoenix, praised the progress his office has made reducing backlogs. But he agreed that more work needs to be done.
"We are very proud of how far we've come, but we're not where we want to be," Fickett said.
Four years ago, immigrants in Phoenix typically waited 46 months for green cards applications and 42 months for citizenship applications to be processed, among the worst wait times in the nation.
Now the processing time in Phoenix has been cut to 24 months for green cards and about seven months for citizenship, Fickett said.
The processing dates posted on the official CIS Web site, however, show the wait time in Phoenix is 27 months for green cards and eight months for citizenship. Fickett calls those figures conservative.
Still, a review of wait times for green card and citizenship applications at the Phoenix office compared with other large U.S. cities puts Phoenix among the worst.
For example, the wait time for green card applications in El Paso (three months), San Diego (five months), Los Angeles (six months), Dallas (six months), Albuquerque (seven months), San Francisco (seven months), Tucson (nine months), Denver (nine months), and Las Vegas (12 months) are all well under the 27-month wait for green card applications to be processed in Phoenix.
Fickett said the Phoenix office was overwhelmed by a flood of applications in the late 1990s but more efficient management and technological improvements have helped reduce the backlogs after the former Immigration and Naturalization Service was divided into two agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The changes have allowed the office to reduce the backlog of people waiting for green cards through the Phoenix office from 16,336 in August 2002 to 6,583 in August 2004.
The backlog of people waiting for citizenship has also dropped, from 7,041 in August 2002 to 4,742 in August 2004, Fickett said.
Fickett anticipates the wait for green card applications in Phoenix will be cut to six months by Oct. 1, and to six months for citizenship applications by the end of this month. That would exceed President Bush's goal of reducing wait times to six months for both green cards and citizenship applications by Sept. 30.
He did not dispute that the backlogs create hardships for immigrants and contribute to illegal immigration.
But he said he is committed to fulfilling CIS Director Eduardo Aguirre's stated goal of delivering "world-class customer service" to people applying for immigration benefits.
Crystal Williams, senior director of liaison and information at the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C., said several CIS offices across the country, including the one in Phoenix, have begun sending green card applications to a central processing office in Missouri.
"It's extremely deceiving to say they have reduced backlogs on green card applications," Williams said.
Al Gallmann, assistant district director, confirmed that beginning on Oct. 1, 2004, the Phoenix office started sending new green card applications to a central office in Lee's Summit, near Kansas City.
But he said those applications, about 400 a month, are factored in the current two-year backlog.
Emilia Ba๑uelos, a Phoenix immigration lawyer, also questioned whether the CIS office in Phoenix has actually reduced its backlog. She said she has noticed an increase in the number of green card applications being denied in Phoenix.
The Phoenix office interviewed 8,000 green card applicants during the past 12 months, and 2,000 cases, or 25 percent, were denied, Fickett said.
He attributed the high denial rate to the state's large undocumented immigrant population. Many undocumented immigrants are not eligible for green cards, he said.
Meanwhile, immigrants like Andr้s Molina feel frustrated by the long waits.
Applicants for green cards are often prohibited from returning if they leave the country while their cases are pending.
"I haven't seen my father in 15 years. I can't go see my family," Molina, an immigrant from Agua Prieta, Sonora, said as he waited for his green card interview clutching a file stuffed with documents.
The long wait times keep families separated and sometimes cause immigrants to lose their benefits, either because deadlines expire or the relative petitioning on their behalf dies, immigrant advocates say.
The long wait times also unnecessarily prolong the citizenship process because immigrants cannot apply for citizenship until they have been permanent residents for at least three years, advocates say.
The long wait times also contribute to the size of the undocumented immigrant population by discouraging immigrants here from applying for residency and encouraging others to enter the country illegally rather than wait for years for their application to be processed, advocates say.
"Any process that takes that long is really intimidating," said Margarita Silva, a Phoenix immigration lawyer.
