DEMS DEMAND ELECTION-SEASON SURGE IN APPROVING NEW CITIZENS

Dems demand election-season surge in approving new citizens

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Monday, July 2, 2018

Congressional Democrats are urging the Trump administration to pour resources into approving new citizenship applications, saying a massive backlog has built up and people applying now may have to wait as long as 16 months before getting approved.

In a letter sent Friday, some 52 Democrats said the massive backlog that’s built up “undermines public trust” and must be cut.

“The agency clearly needs to invest further resources and increase staff to expand capacity and return processing times to the agency’s stated goal of six months or less,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Reps. Zoe Lofgren of California and Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois.

As of Dec. 31, the last figures published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, there were 729,400 cases awaiting a decision.

As The Washington Times has reported, the backlog developed under then-President Barack Obama’s administration, rising from 388,832 cases pending at the beginning of 2016 to 636,164 at the end of the year — a surge of 64 percent.

The backlog continued to grow in the early days of President Trump’s tenure, hitting a peak of 781,126 as of June 30, 2017. But since then, they’ve made headway in cutting the backlog, reducing it to 729,400 as of the end of 2017.

The Times’ articles on the rising backlog did not draw significant response from Democrats or immigrant rights groups.

Now, though, they are calling the backlog the “second wall,” a reference to Mr. Trump’s get-tough policies including his plans for a border wall.

The call for faster action on citizenship comes four months before voters go to the polls for the midterm congressional elections.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/2/democrats-demand-election-season-surge-approving-n/?