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AILA
Urges President and Congress to Get Serious about Backlog Reduction
July 3, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Julia Hendrix
jhendrix@aila.org or (202) 216-2404
July 3, 2003
Becoming American
The Reality of the American Dream
Washington, DC - On July 4th, immigrants nationwide will demonstrate their
patriotism and love for America by becoming citizens. Many members of the
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will be joining their clients at
naturalization ceremonies as these immigrants begin their journey as new
Americans.
"Becoming an American on Independence Day has special significance, and
not just for the obvious patriotic reasons," states Palma Yanni, President
of AILA. "For many, this day represents the end of an arduous process. Many
immigrants face enormous hurdles just to come to the United States, and then the
bureaucracy involved in becoming an American can be daunting."
Currently, an immigrant's application to become a citizen takes a year or
more to process. It can take up to 4 years or even longer to process
applications for permanent residency.
"Many hardworking, tax-paying immigrants struggle to understand an
increasingly complex immigration system that seems to thwart people's efforts to
become U.S. citizens," continued Yanni.
"The pursuit of the American dream is endemic to all immigrants.
However, the current system just doesn't make those dreams a reality,"
states Yanni. "President Bush promised he would fix the immigration system
and that six months to process applications would be the norm. We urge him to
live up to that promise."
The President promised to spend $100 million a year for 5 years to achieve a
6-month application processing time. However, in the current FY 2004 budget not
even this minimal amount of money is set aside to meet this important goal.
"Backlogs in obtaining green cards and citizenship have a real impact on
people's lives," states Yanni. "Such backlogs make it difficult, if
not impossible, to reunite with family; certain jobs are off-limits; and travel
may be difficult, if not prohibited. The President and Congress also have to get
serious about immigration by reforming our out-of-date policies. Promising to
throw money at a system that doesn't work is not good enough. We must make the
American dream a reality."
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Founded in 1946, AILA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides
its Members with continuing legal education, information, and professional
services. AILA advocates before Congress and the Administration and provides
liaison with the DHS and other government agencies. AILA is an Affiliated
Organization of the American Bar Association.
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