People who apply for citizenship are still waiting years to be approved. This backlog must be taken care of. DP
By Jackie Best
infozine.com: Martin Izuchukwu Okpareke applied for citizenship in 2004 because he wanted to be able to actively participate in his community and politics. He is still waiting to become a citizen.
The National Immigration Forum released a report Wednesday called "Out of Focus: The Hidden Crisis of the Latest Backlogs in Naturalization Processing." It looks at the problems that immigrants face when they try to become citizens.
Okpareke, a legal U.S. resident, fled an oppressive military government in Nigeria and lives in Kansas City, Mo. He is a refugee employment and training manager at a Jewish Vocational Service.
"Waiting this long makes me feel like an inferior individual," Okpareke, 41, said on a conference call Wednesday held by the National Immigration Forum. He said some of his clients have become citizens.
Okpareke said he has contacted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to find out why his application is taking so long, and they say it is because of an FBI name check. He has also contacted the FBI but has gotten little response.
The report found that many applicants are being forced to wait months or years before obtaining citizenship. The wait has prevented some immigrants from advancing in their careers, reuniting with their families, traveling and voting.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
2 comments:
So, this man has already satisfied his 5 years of residency, but now that he wants his green card visa, the wait has been SIX YEARS!? I find that easy to believe, but so very unfortunate.I just hope this man does not give up on the process, because that would be the ultimate tragedy...
I agree with Mike that 6 years is far too long to wait for his green card visa application. The worst thing that could happen would be that this person takes too long and this individual loses faith in the system. Studies have shown that immigrants are particularly positive voices in communities due to the fact that by definition you need get-up-and-go to get up and go to America. Therefore it's only wise to give them a means to advocate for positive change.
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