Monika Starczuk, Albany Park Neighborhood Council|Thursday, May 8, 2008
For the past year APNC leaders have been working very hard putting pressure on our elected officials and other governmental agencies to resolve the issue of citizenship delays.
Nation wide over one million Legal Permanent Residents who applied for citizenship wait for over a year (in many cases 2 or 3 years) to become US citizens due the FBI Name Check Program or bureaucratic backlog. 50% of those applicants applied last year to avoid higher citizenship application fees.
APNC leaders met in November 2007 with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and last week in Washington , DC with new acting-Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
USCIS committed to reducing 80% of the citizenship backlogs by October 1, 2008!!! Just in time for new citizens to register to vote before November election.
Leaders will continue to meet with the USCIS to make sure it's not another empty promise.
Congratulation and thank you to all APNC leaders and member institutions for its solid commitment and effort to resolve the problem of citizenship delays.
Last week while, immigrants across the country marched in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, Gladys Varas, a 67 year-old APNC leader who applied for US citizenship 4 years ago, went to Washington, DC to meet with Director of USCIS, to tell her story of personal struggles she faced with the naturalization process. "Immigrants despite their status face many obstacles and only united we can change things for ourselves"- said Gladys after the meeting. Yesterday at 11.30 am Gladys was sworn in as a US citizen!!!!
Monika Starczuk
Albany Park Neighborhood Council
New Americans Initiative
Outreach Coordinator
