After the War, a New Battle to Become Citizens

[proud2BlibKansan]

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/us/24vets.html?ei=5070&en=70d6fcee1e491ffa&ex=1204606800&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1204129331-twyBSi2ds4GOCJ8eNEk7ug

February 24, 2008

After the War, a New Battle to Become Citizens

By FERNANDA SANTOS

Despite a 2002 promise from President Bush to put citizenship
applications for immigrant members of the military on a fast track, some
are finding themselves waiting months, or even years, because of
bureaucratic backlogs. One, Sgt. Kendell K. Frederick of the Army, who
had tried three times to file for citizenship, was killed by a roadside
bomb in Iraq as he returned from submitting fingerprints for his
application.

About 7,200 service members or people who have been recently discharged
have citizenship applications pending, but neither the Department of
Defense nor Citizenship and Immigration Services keeps track of how long
they have been waiting. Immigration lawyers and politicians say they
have received a significant number of complaints about delays because of
background checks, misplaced paperwork, confusion about deployments and
other problems.

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But service members and veterans are supposed to go to the head of the
line. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush signed an
executive order allowing noncitizens on active duty to file for
citizenship right away, instead of having to first complete three years
in the military. The federal government has since taken several steps to
speed up the process, including training military officers to help
service members fill out forms, assigning special teams to handle the
paperwork, and allowing citizenship tests, interviews and ceremonies to
take place overseas.

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"Most soldiers clear the checks within 30 to 60 days, or 60 to 90 days,"
said Leslie B. Lord, the Army's liaison to Citizenship and Immigration
Services, the federal agency that processes citizenship applications.
"But even the soldier with the cleanest of records, if he has a name
that's very similar to one that's in the F.B.I. bad-boy and bad-girl
list, things get delayed."

Such explanations are why Mr. Habibullah has decided that once he does
become a citizen - if he ever becomes a citizen - he will change his name.

"I figured that's part of the reason things got delayed," he said. "You
know, that I have a Muslim name."

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