Nearly 10 million immigrants have to be removed as barriers to naturalization

In response to the nearly 10 million immigrants in the United States who meet the conditions for naturalization but have not yet naturalized, Rep. Meng Zhaowen and 26 lawmakers from California and Illinois, including Norma Torres and Jesús "Chuy" García, jointly sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Immigration Commissioner Ur Mendoza Jaddou, demanding that the barriers to immigration naturalization be further reduced.

In a joint open letter, lawmakers praised trust in a series of recent improvements in naturalization policy by departments of homeland security and immigration leadership, including the reinstatement of the 2008 version of the naturalization test questions, the relaxation of the continuous residency threshold in certain circumstances, the provision of assistance to special groups such as veterans in naturalization, improvements to the patchwork process, and the launch of the 2021 Immigration Integration Grant Program.

But the letter also points out that despite these improvements, the approximately 9 million permanent residents in the United States who meet the naturalization requirements still face considerable obstacles, including lack of relevant information, lack of information, lack of information on how to prepare for applications and naturalization tests, and inability to afford application fees. In addition, applicants face long wait times and extreme background checks after filing their applications. The letter said what had happened in the past few years proved that even permanent residents could lose the opportunity to become citizens or even be deported.

The lawmakers made a number of recommendations in the letter, including proactively providing naturalization information and resources to immigrants at various nodes such as green card approval and temporary green card renewal; providing naturalization fee reductions to low-income people; allowing remote video interviews and oaths during and after the epidemic and as appropriate; appointing a naturalized citizen or expert as the Secretary of Homeland Security's Special Counsel on Immigration, responsible for coordinating immigration-related federal departments, and promoting communication and understanding between the parties and the government Re-establish the USCIS Public Affairs Office and the Client Service Office to engage in regular dialogue and interaction with the immigrant community and stakeholders; establish procedures for accepting private donations in support of USCIS's Community Naturalization Grant Program; and regularly disclose statistics such as the pass rate of naturalization tests and the percentage of application fee reductions.

The open letter also requires USCIS to submit to Congress statistics on the current backlog of naturalization petitions, including figures from national processing centers and regional processing centers, as well as current naturalization application processing times across the United States and regional centers.

Rep. Meng Zhaowen said, "Immigration has made our country great, enriched and strengthened our society, but many people face daunting challenges in their quest to become citizens, and now is the time to change." We appreciate the efforts already made by the Department of Homeland Security to improve naturalization opportunities and urge Secretary Mayokas and Director Jaddu to continue to make further improvements to make the whole process easier and fairer. There should be no obstacle to naturalization, and we must ensure that all immigrants have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. ”

Rep. Torres said expanding naturalization opportunities for permanent residents will make our country more prosperous, so it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to help these immigrants achieve their dreams.

Rep. García said it was time to tear down the "second wall" on the path to naturalization, to ensure that naturalization was not a difficult process and that everyone had equal opportunities in the process.