[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 92 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      INS TO BE COMMENDED IN MIAMI

                                 ______


                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 19, 1996

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service [INS], created by Congress over a hundred years ago--March 3, 
1891--has been charged with the responsibility of providing services 
under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which among other things 
includes providing assistance to individuals seeking naturalization--
the process by which eligible immigrants become U.S. citizens. 
Therefore, INS is appropriately involved in the citizenship process as 
an integral part and I believe that Commissioner Meissner has made 
significant progress in reducing the extensive processing backlogs for 
prospective new citizens as interest in naturalization has increased 
substantially during her term as commissioner.
  Although I cannot speak for other portions of the country, in Miami 
INS has done a commendable job of moving applicants through the 
citizenship process expeditiously. As a part critic of INS's failure to 
process applications on a timely basis, I have been encouraged by the 
important headway INS has made in reducing the average time for 
completing an application.
  Naturalization applications have severely outpaced the capacity of 
INS--from just over 200,000 in 1983 to over a million in 1955, and 
thousands of applications had been accumulating in Miami with a mere 22 
personnel to process them. To respond to this unacceptable situation, 
using its own fee revenue, INS has added 158 naturalization personnel 
to the Miami District staff this year to handle the steadily increasing 
volume of citizenship applications. In the first half of this year, 
thanks to the additional staffing provided by Commissioner Meissner, 
the Miami district has been able to complete close to 30,000 N-400 
applications--the standard naturalization form--which is over 1,000 
more than the Miami district completed in the entire year for 1995. I 
have been pleased with this progress and commend Commissioner 
Meissner's hard work to ensure that naturalization is given the 
priority it merits.
  Through its Citizenship USA project, INS is meeting on a monthly 
basis in Miami with local organizations to improve community outreach. 
Groups such as One Nation, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. 
[CLINIC], Dade County Schools and the Hispanic Coalition have worked 
with volunteers and local officials to help the INS facilitate its 
citizenship activities.
  To be eligible for citizenship, an immigrant must be a legal 
permanent resident for at least 5 years--three if married to a U.S. 
citizen--exhibit good moral character and understanding of 
constitutional principles, demonstrate a knowledge of U.S. history/
civics and basis English--unless exempted for age or disability--and 
must pay an application fee of $95 which funds the INS process of 
examining each case. Thus, naturalization is not an automatic step for 
every immigrant, and those individuals who have gone to the trouble and 
effort of playing by the rules and have demonstrated their dedication 
and desire to be a U.S. citizen deserve the opportunity to be processed 
on a timely, efficient basis by INS. Although there have been enormous 
backlogs in the past, I believe that Commissioner Meissner is taking 
important steps toward helping immigrants naturalize and take full 
advantage of citizenship in these great United States.

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