Emilio Gonzalez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is in Dallas today, paying a visit to the Dallas U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office. And he'll be greeted by "dozens of legal residents waiting to become U.S. citizens" who are marching on the North Stemmons Freeway location to protest delays in having their citizenship applications processed. According to the Associated Press this morning, "Federal officials have said some who applied last year might not become citizens in time to vote in this year's elections, angering many applicants."
Gonzalez, incidentally, addressed this topic at great length only 10 days ago, during testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. According to the director, there is a simple reason for the delays: "In the summer of 2007, we received in excess of three million applications and petitions for immigration benefits. Such volume in just a short couple of months is unprecedented in the history of immigration services of our nation." --Robert Wilonsky
