More reporting on the backlog

Under Trump, there’s a growing wait to become a U.S. citizen

By Teo Armus, August 17 Washington Post

...advocates say the Trump administration is interviewing applicants more extensively and appears to be scrutinizing their documents more closely.The result is a growing backlog of citizenship applications, at a time when Trump’s immigration crackdown has made non-citizens feel like they are at risk.

In 2014, the average time to go through the entire naturalization process was about five months. Now, it takes almost twice as long. The number of pending applications has more than doubled — 753,352 as of March 31, the most recent date for which data is available. The backlog is especially pronounced in immigrant-heavy jurisdictions like Washington D.C. and Maryland, where wait times can reach 16 or 17 months...

Joshua Hoyt, the director of the National Partnership for New Americans, an association of immigrant advocacy groups, said the agency’s failure to keep up with the growing demand acts as a “second wall.”

“People are waiting in good faith for something that’s their right,” he said. “Backlog numbers have increased dramatically, and it appears that nothing has been done to reduce them.”

See the full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/under-trump-a-growing-wait-to-become-a-us-citizen/2018/08/16/ed364786-9bec-11e8-843b-36e177f3081c_story.html

Posted: to Citizenship News on Sat, Aug 18, 2018
Updated: Sat, Aug 18, 2018