John Valdez’s Legal Blog

The recently released joint statement from the USCIS and FBI on a plan to eliminate delays on immigration applications caused by FBI name checks contains a good deal of backslapping for the two agencies.  UCSIS Director Emilio Gonzalez says of the plan: 

“This plan of action is the product of a strong partnership between USCIS and the FBI to eliminate the backlogs and to strengthen national security.”

I really am happy that the USCIS now has a plan to eliminate FBI name check delays, which cause serious problems.  Many immigrants have been waiting for six or seven years for the approval of their green card or citizenship applications, which has undoubtedly caused them many sleepless nights due to the uncertainty of their immigration situation.  But I truly believe that the reason the two agencies are changing direction on the issue is not the result of good federal officials seeking to help immigrants; rather, it is a result of hundreds of brave immigrants who have forced a change in government tactics by bringing their fight to the courts. 

Indeed, courts have been increasingly finding that the government has been unreasonable in holding up adjudication of immigration applications for years simply because it has not found the time or resources to conduct security checks.  Thanks to the efforts of litigating immigrants, the USCIS and FBI now plan to eliminate name check delays under the following schedule:

• By May 8th they will process all name checks pending for more than three years

• By July 8th they will process all name checks pending for more than two years

• By November 8th they will process all name checks pending for more than one year

• By February 9th they will process all name checks pending for more than 180 days

• By July 9th they will process 98% of all name checks within 30 days

• By July 9th they will process the remaining 2% within 90 days

 While I do not want to demean the effort of government officials in reducing FBI name check delays, since there are good public servants involved in the process, I truly believe that immigrants and their advocates deserve the highest praise for fighing in court for what they believe is right: their right to seek U.S. permanent residence or citizenship without unreasonable delay.