INS Denials of Citizenship Climb Sharply

By PATRICK J. McDONNELL

June 14, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Skyrocketing numbers of legal immigrants in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities are being denied citizenship, prompting the federal government to examine whether eligible candidates are being unfairly refused the nation’s most cherished privilege.

Citizenship denials nationwide grew 251% during the first six months of the 1998-99 fiscal year, compared to the same period a year earlier, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service records show.

In Los Angeles, the INS district with the greatest number of applicants, the agency turned down 56,235 citizenship requests from Oct. 1 to March 31--a 1,625% increase over the same period a year earlier.

Application rejections also grew dramatically in other U.S. cities with large numbers of immigrants, INS records show. Denials surged more than 500% in Dallas and Miami; 355% in Chicago and 197% in New York.

The numbers of new citizens sworn in have also increased substantially during the six-month period, statistics show. But refusals grew at a much brisker pace.

INS officials say the soaring numbers of rejections are largely linked to an internal shift in the way the agency handles applications. For years, examiners following a previous policy set aside the least promising applicants--petitions that were left untouched until last year, said William Yates, INS head of citizenship operations.

But authorities concede that bureaucratic mishaps may have also contributed. An unknown number of home addresses were lost in a computer system changeover last year, Yates said, possibly leading to some wrongful rejections.

Critics say the computer troubles compounded the agency’s history of failing to record changes of address and its propensity to lose files and documents. The issue is crucial because applicants are notified by mail of appointments or the need to submit additional documents.

Failure to respond to key INS correspondence nearly always results in the denial of a citizenship application. Many of those denied citizenship in the past year may not yet be aware of the denial. INS rejection notices are sent by mail.

“We are concerned that part of this dramatic increase results from people who are fully qualified to become U.S. citizens and have been waiting in line for years, and are now being unfairly derailed from the process,” said Rosalind Gold, senior director of naturalization programs at the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

“The magnitude of this increase is enormous,” she said, “and it appears to be unprecedented.”

INS officials concede that change-of-address forms mailed in by applicants are not always logged in the applicants’ files, as required.

Agency officials have directed field offices nationwide to reconsider dismissed cases in which applicants say they notified the agency of a new address that was never recorded. Generally, applications are automatically denied 30 days after a missed interview.

The INS also is now working on a toll-free telephone number for logging changes of address into its computer system. The number is expected to be in operation this summer.

The escalating denials are the latest chapter in the U.S. citizenship saga. The process was revamped after accusations of wrongdoing in the Clinton administration’s “Citizenship USA” initiative. That effort resulted in a record 1 million new citizens in 1996, but drew criticism from Republicans who said the campaign was being used to pad Democratic Party rolls.

Congressionally mandated reforms slowed the process considerably. Grants of citizenship have never again approached 1996 levels. But applications have continued to pour in, creating a backlog of applicants that has grown to almost 2 million.

Facing pressure from lawmakers and immigrant rights groups, the INS has attacked the backlog in the past year. Grants of citizenship increased 50% nationwide during the first six months of the 1998-99 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.

Citizenship approvals in Los Angeles rose during the same period, with 75,380 people taking the oath, up 88% from the previous year.

But denials have shot upward much more quickly.

INS officials say they have not made it more difficult to become a U.S. citizen. Applications are typically denied because people fail tests in civics and English, or have criminal convictions. Others are rejected because they are duplicate applications. Sometimes applicants die while waiting to become United States citizens.

“I think the officers are making appropriate decisions, and I’m comfortable with the work being performed,” said Thomas J. Schiltgen, INS district director in Los Angeles.

Citizenship applicants generally must have resided in the United States for five years as legal permanent residents and have basic knowledge of English, as well as U.S. government and history. Applicants with certain disabilities are exempt from the English and civics tests, though critics say many have been improperly denied waivers of those exams.

INS officials say they have changed their approach in the face of the large backlog in citizenship applications.

Beginning late last year, agency offices in Los Angeles and elsewhere began to focus on problematic and complex cases that were put aside under the old policy of concentrating on the most promising applications, Yates said.

“We told our offices, ‘You cannot just put difficult cases aside: You must move the cases,’ ” said Yates, the INS’ deputy executive associate commissioner.

Yates said he was alarmed when he first noted the sharp upward trend in denials earlier this year. “There is no policy out there or in Washington to try and deny cases,” he said.

INS officials in Los Angeles estimate that only a few hundred immigrants were denied citizenship because the agency lost their correct address.

But immigrant advocates contend the number is much higher.

Yelena Tarashchanskaya, a 70-year-old Ukrainian immigrant who lives in West Hollywood, is among the rejected. She was a typist in Kiev who came 10 years ago to the United States with her family as a refugee.

She said she did not know she was denied citizenship until last month, when a social service worker went to the INS office in Los Angeles and checked.

Tarashchanskaya filed her application in 1994, requesting a testing waiver because of a heart problem and other ailments. The waiver was denied but she appealed, with the assistance of her physician.

Then the INS began trying to reach Tarashchanskaya at the wrong address, said Leon Shkrab, director of social services at the Chabad Russian Program, an aid agency in West Hollywood.

When Tarashchanskaya did not respond to INS letters, she was denied citizenship last year. Now, she is seeking to have her case reopened.

“Every morning for years I checked my mail to see if there was anything new on my citizenship application,” Tarashchanskaya said Friday through a Russian interpreter. “But I never found anything. I just could not understand what was going on. I just hope I can get my citizenship now.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

U.S. Citizenship Given, Denied

The number of new citizens sworn in nationwide during the first six months of the 1998-99 fiscal year increased by 50% compared to the same period in the previous year. However, denials nationwide soared by 251%, increasing more than 15-fold in Los Angeles.

Oct. 1, 197-March 31, 1998

Oct. 1, 1998-March 31, 1999

Applications Denied

3,259

Los Angeles: 56,235, % Increase: 1,625%

3,684

Miami: 22,478, % Increase: 510%

5,096

New York: 15,161, % Increase: 197%

1,605

Chicago: 7,304, % Increase: 550%

833