Report Finds Some Federal Judges Put Off Swearing In New Citizens

[MountainLaurel]

So they can hold on to the fees paid. Fuckers.

Federal judges in some parts of the United States are delaying the swearing-in of new citizens, apparently so that courts can keep millions of dollars in naturalization fees paid by immigrants, according to a new government report and immigration analysts.

In one of the nation's busiest courts, a judge's delay caused nearly 2,000 people to not receive the oath in time to register for November's general election, according to the ombudsman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Michael Dougherty, in a 13-page report posted on his office's internet site yesterday.

The conclusion adds a new twist to longstanding complaints that applicants for citizenship face long waits, poor service and different treatment from U.S. immigration authorities depending on which office handles their application. While USCIS has made big gains in clearing massive backlogs since summer 2007, including working with the FBI to speed up security background checks, the new report cites a new bottleneck.

While generally "federal courts are very responsive" to USCIS requests for naturalization ceremonies, Dougherty reported "that court officials denied USCIS the opportunity to naturalize persons in time to vote in the recent general elections" and "otherwise engaged in conduct inconsistent with the letter or the spirit" of the nation's immigration law.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/17/AR2008121701319.html

[babylonsister]

1. This is criminal. Outrageous! nt

[EFerrari]

2. And so they wouldn't vote for Obama.

It didn't seem to help McCain much.

[formercia]

3. Kill a vote here, kill a vote there. It all adds up.

It's still voter suppression. It's still criminal.

[Jim Lane]

4. According to the linked article, it's more about the money

In most places, the agency itself (USCIS) can swear in the new systems. In four cities, though, the federal district court retains the exclusive power to do so. The court collects a fee for each naturalization performed. The court has a financial reason to maintain that arrangement, but isn't diligent about keeping up with the pace of new naturalizations.

I get the impression that, in most of the country, naturalization without court involvement works just fine. If so, that should be the universal practice.