New Report from National Partnership for New Americans Exposes Ballooning Backlogs Under Trump Administration
Today, National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) released a must-read report entitled, Building a Second Wall: USCIS Backlogs Preventing Immigrants from Becoming US Citizens. The report uncovers the sorry state of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing, which has resulted in a backlog of more than 700,000 applications.
Among the key findings:
- Since the 2016 presidential primary elections, 1,028,647 lawful permanent residents have applied to become U.S. citizens, a 10.5% increase over the same period last year.
- Currently there are 708,638 pending applications, an increase of 35.23% in the backlog of pending applications over last year and a 77% increase in the last two years.
The findings of the report were covered in a New York Times story published today, entitled, “Citizenship Applications Surge as Immigration Talk Toughens.” The article captures how the fear rippling through immigrant families and communities is a significant factor in driving up the number of applicants.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund:
A huge shout-out to NPNA for this timely report. The Trump Administration is indeed building a ‘second wall’ that is preventing a growing number of legal immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens. It is the federal government’s responsibility to make this process work. USCIS is the only agency that can do so. It’s time for them to step up and make good on the promise of newcomers becoming New Americans.
Read the full report online here.
