Citizenship Applications Drop Sharply

A historic surge of citizenship applications that has resulted in record numbers of new citizens in Southern California and nationwide has finally come to an end, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Friday.

Officials expect the number of citizenship applications to drop by almost 50% during the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, INS Commissioner Doris Meissner told reporters in suburban Washington, D.C. An all-time high of 1.5 million people applied for citizenship during fiscal 1997, the sixth consecutive year that the numbers rose.

Citizenship applications in the Los Angeles area, which leads the nation, are expected to plunge by about one-third this year, officials said.

Among the reasons for the sudden drop, INS officials said, is the sheer frustration of many would-be applicants who know that friends and relatives have been in line for two years or more. The delays are dissuading many from even applying.

“There’s got to be a chilling effect when people find out they may be waiting one or two years,” said Virginia Kice, an INS spokeswoman.

About 2 million citizenship-seekers are caught in the application backlog, which Meissner has called a “black hole.” About one-quarter of those reside in Southern California.

The latest INS data buttress a belief among many community organizations that assist immigrants in becoming U.S. citizens. In some cases, activists say, people enthusiastic about attaining citizenship have given up hope.

“All these horror stories are filtering out to the public,” said Juan Jose Gutierrez of One Stop Immigration, an Eastside social service group. “People are loaded with frustration about the long waits.”

The huge number of people taking the citizenship oath in recent years has reverberated at the polls in California and other states, where the newly naturalized are increasingly an important political force.

In fact, analysts say that a shift in political attitudes toward immigrants may be another factor in the drop-off of new applicants.

The perceived anti-immigrant agenda of the mid-1990s--which culminated in a 1996 law severely cutting welfare eligibility for noncitizen legal residents--appears to have eased somewhat, analysts say. Consequently, relatively fewer legal immigrants may believe they need citizenship to retain benefits or protect their rights.

The sheer volume of citizenship applications during the 1990s eventually overwhelmed the system and focused a congressional spotlight on allegations that ineligible criminals were getting through without the mandated background checks. The INS was forced to revamp the system, exacerbating delays.

Another likely factor in the declining citizenship filings, officials say, has to do strictly with numbers.

Helping to fuel the record surge were the almost 3 million formerly illegal immigrants who received amnesty under a special program during the late 1980s. This huge pool first became eligible for citizenship during the early 1990s. But by now, most in this group interested in citizenship have already submitted their applications.

Also on Friday, Meissner said additional personnel would be hired to help reduce the backlog in Los Angeles and four other offices that generate high volumes of applications. The Clinton administration is seeking an additional $171 million next year to bolster the process.

Meantime, Meissner said she was putting off a naturalization fee increase, scheduled to take effect this fall, until Jan. 15. The naturalization fee will then more than double, from $95 to $225.

A broad range of other fee hikes, for services from green cards to petitions for relatives, will go into effect Oct. 12.

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Applications Ebb

Citizenship applications have begun to fall off dramatically after six years of increases brought the numbers to record levels.

Citizenship Applications

‘98*: 850,000

****

New Citizens Sworn In

‘97**: 569,822

‘98: N/A

* 1998 numbers projected.

** Numbers naturalized in 1997 dropped by more than 45% after system was revamped because of concerns that ineligible criminals were wrongly attaining citizenship.

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service.