Fingerprint Snafu Plagues INS System

Shanti Roy stares at her delicate fingertips and cannot understand why immigration officials have told her they are no good.

Since she applied for citizenship in 1996, the retired nurse from New Delhi has been sent for fingerprinting three times, and each time the Immigration and Naturalization Service has told her the print patterns are indiscernible or unacceptable.

“I can’t understand what the problem is,” said Roy, a permanent resident of the United States. “We’re trying to follow the law, but after three times it is quite frustrating.”

In her Canoga Park studio apartment, wrapped in a red sari, she explains how she left India in 1989 to practice Christianity.

The 63-year-old woman is hardly the criminal type, but she and thousands of others seeking citizenship across the country are being asked to submit new fingerprints for criminal background checks.

The reason for reprinting is either because their prints were rejected or their original background check remained in an INS office past the 15-month expiration period and must be retaken to ensure the person has not committed recent crimes.

Now, eager to ease the unprecedented backlog of 2 million immigrants nationwide--about 10% of them in Southern California--who need to be reprinted, the INS is launching a massive initiative that includes a fleet of 45 vans that will roam the nation gathering prints.

With two Ford Windstar vans designated for the seven Southern California counties, the fingerprint-mobile’s first Los Angeles stop will be the San Fernando Valley, where more than 5,000 applications are pending.

INS officials say the mobile fingerprint units were designed primarily to reach elderly immigrants, disabled persons and shut-ins, but also will be used in Los Angeles to help the crush of others who need to be reprinted. In addition, at the INS application support center in downtown Los Angeles, fingerprints are now being taken with 10 electronic fingerprint scanners that capture a more detailed image of lines and creases on a person’s hand.

The scanners have been helpful especially in cases of senior citizens like Roy, whose prints may have faded and worn down with age. The fingerprint vans and improved print technology are just part of an INS effort to break through the backlog and improve its notorious image, but immigrant advocates say logistics still need to be worked out and they remain skeptical of the initiative.

At the East Valley Multipurpose Senior Center in North Hollywood, about 3,300 legal immigrants--many of them seniors--are stuck in the INS pipeline. According to Geneva Ruiz-Hyatt, immigration program manager for the center, more than 600 need to be reprinted.

On Wednesday, the mobile unit will make the first dent in the Valley backlog and fingerprint 70 applicants at the center.

“The INS has taken a lot of criticism, and much of it rightfully so,” Ruiz-Hyatt said. “This finally seems to be something positive. But it’s been really slow in coming.”

Ruiz-Hyatt, who assists thousands of Valley immigrants in completing citizenship applications, said that elderly newcomers often arrive in this country with conditions that complicate the process. Some suffer from health problems that make traveling to any of the 12 INS fingerprint centers almost impossible. Others have mental deficiencies that necessitate extra time in explaining simple procedures. And still others simply have lost the characteristic prints on their fingers due to the natural process of aging.

“What happens when you get older is that your fingerprints wipe away,” said Ruiz-Hyatt, “or you get arthritis and your fingers curl up, or you tremble. All these things make it difficult. The young people can fend for themselves, but the elderly and disabled need a guiding light.”

INS officials say they recognize those problems. Raul Acosta, director of the INS fingerprint centers in Los Angeles, said the mobile units will use a special solution that when rubbed on a person’s fingers helps pick up the best print possible.

“Sometimes there are rejects because of a person’s profession,” he said. “A construction worker or someone who does intensive labor is always tougher to print.”

Although the vans will not immediately be equipped with electronic fingerprint scanners, Acosta said the agency is in the process of testing portable scanners to be used in the vans later this year.

Fingerprints also have been rejected because of problems with spotting or mistakes on the biographical data portion of the cards. To combat that, the agency has begun using automated bar codes, which have cut down on rejections. Eventually, with the use of the new technology, the INS hopes to have a direct link to the FBI, which would mean the criminal check would be done on the spot.

But immigrant advocates voiced fear that the new measures will make the backlog worse. Ruiz-Hyatt said scheduling problems have already occurred. Some of her clients have mistakenly been told to travel to El Monte for printing. Another concern is that the two vans designated for Los Angeles will not be able to accommodate the entire region.

“They’re telling us that if it goes well on Wednesday, they may be able to come out every two weeks,” said Marv Wilk, assistant director of citizenship at the East Valley Multipurpose Center. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

In Roy’s case, any delay is crucial. She and her husband, Ayiuc, live on her $600 monthly Social Security check--a benefit that could expire if citizenship isn’t granted.

“We are just barely getting by,” she said. “I try to keep my spirits up and stay happy. If I think about what would happen if I lost my benefits, I become too depressed.”

And, though the husband and wife are upset, they still do not fault the INS.

“They are trying their best, and we also are trying our best,” Ayiuc Roy said. “Somehow we have to meet in the middle.”