PHOENIX – The backlog of applications from legal residents waiting to become U.S. citizens has skyrocketed, and immigration rights groups are demanding answers, saying the delays are of special concern in an election year.

More than 14,000 Arizonans are legal permanent residents who qualify to become U.S. citizens but are waiting for their applications to be processed, according to the
National Partnership for New Americans.

Ben Monterroso, executive director of the civic engagement group Mi Familia Vota, says the approval process used to take just a few months, but now, some applicants wait nearly two years.

"They're going to continue paying taxes and obeying the law, but they will not be able to participate in the democracy of this country – meaning not eligible to vote – and a lot of people are looking to express their voice at the ballot box," he states.

Monterroso's organization is one of several that this week, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to find out why U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services operations have slowed so dramatically.

The application backlog has grown by nearly 90 percent since 2016. In Arizona, the rate of increase has been even higher.

Monterroso says more than 700,000 legal permanent residents across the country have gone through a lengthy process and paid hundreds of dollars in application fees, with little response from the government.

"They already have legal, permanent residence for more than five years, and filled out all the paperwork that's required to become a citizen, and have shown that they are eligible,” he points out. “So, we need to figure out what is taking so long."

Mayors of 46 U.S. cities and 50 members of Congress have written to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to demand action on the backlog. That list includes Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, and Reps. Ruben Gallego and Raul Grijalva of Arizona.


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This holiday season, a nonprofit campaign is asking Americans to write holiday cards to welcome newly arrived refugee families.

The 10th annual "Hope for the Holidays" campaign is spearheaded by Global Refuge, a charity founded in 1939, previously named Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, explained the program's mission.

"It is an important reminder, during the holiday season -- as we recognize that Jesus was a refugee -- that America is a nation of immigrants," Vignarajah emphasized. "That for so many faiths, welcoming the stranger is a part of our religions. It's a way to show a token of support and hope."

Global Refuge resettles about 20,000 legal refugees immigrating to the U.S. each year, including 7,600 in California. The families are fleeing conflict in places like Ukraine and Afghanistan. Vignarajah noted they often spend years in camps and undergo extreme vetting before the federal government grants them asylum.

Despite the flood of anti-immigrant rhetoric during the presidential campaign, Vignarajah hopes the incoming Trump administration takes a cue from Ronald Reagan on refugee policy.

"President Reagan resettled 600,000 refugees during his presidency," Vignarajah pointed out. "And unfortunately, during the prior administration, the refugee program was cut significantly. Our hope is that we don't see that happen in the new year, because there are obviously families who are fleeing for their lives."

The card-writing effort is headquartered at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles. Donations are used to buy toys, school supplies and basic necessities for newly arrived families.


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As President-elect Donald Trump doubles down on promises to round up and deport the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, the city of Castle Rock has pledged to make its law enforcement personnel available to assist federal agencies.

But that support could come with significant costs.

Jeremy Robbins - executive director of the American Immigration Council - pointed to new data showing that deporting people who work in critical industries such as construction, education, food production, and health care would reduce the nation's Gross Domestic Product by nearly 7% - which is on par with losses during the Great Recession.

"The costs of mass deportation would be tremendous," said Robbins, "not just because it's so expensive to deport people, but because it would wreak havoc on the economy."

The cost of deportations is expected to be well over $100 billion, and Trump's transition team has vowed to slash federal funding for local governments that refuse to cooperate.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has promised to protect undocumented residents, many of whom have been contributing members of their communities for decades.

Each year, immigrants add $54 billion to Colorado's economy.

Some critics have called Trump's recent vow to scrap restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at churches, hospitals and schools an effort to instill widespread fear.

During a recent Ethnic Media Services briefing, Elizabeth Taufa - policy attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center - said it's important to understand what mass deportations would look like at the community level.

"Kids that aren't going to school because their parents are afraid of being deported," said Taufa. "Shortages of health-care workers because people either move to places that are a little bit safer or they are removed from the country. It looks like fewer teachers, and we are already facing a teacher shortage."

A strong majority of voters across party lines don't want mass deportations, according to an October survey.

Instead, they want lawmakers to create a legal path to citizenship, a move the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates would reduce the federal deficit by nearly $1 trillion.



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As word has spread about President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plans, advocates for immigrants in Oregon are working to educate people about their rights.

Oregon has the longest-standing sanctuary laws in the nation, which prevent local and state law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities without a signed order from a judge.

Johanna Costa, a civil-rights coordinator at the Oregon Department of Justice, noted that while undocumented residents have greater protection in Oregon, these laws are not foolproof.

"Oregon sanctuary law does not stop deportations from occurring," she explained. "It does not stop federal prosecutions for crimes like unlawful re-entry."

While they don't block federal immigration authorities such as ICE from operating in the state, Costa said Oregon is the only state in the country that offers a hotline to report violations of the sanctuary laws. Oregon is also the only state tracking and making this data public.

Some 90,000 legal Oregon residents currently live with a family member who is undocumented. Costa recommends they learn their rights and make a plan with their family for what to do if immigration officials come to their home or stop them on the street.

"We're not naive to the possibility of what could happen," she said, "and we don't want to fear monger and tell folks, 'This is coming.' But we also want folks to be prepared."

Research shows undocumented immigrants are a boon to Oregon's economy, paying more than $350 million in state and local taxes this year.

Alonso Oliveros, a program associate at Oregon Project VOICE, educates immigrant communities about their rights and works with faith and other allied groups to organize against deportation.

"Immigrants have always been used as a political scapegoat," Oliveros said, "so we really need to be better prepared in terms of how to defend our community, how to advocate for them."

To report a suspected violation of sanctuary laws, receive support or be connected to resources, people can start by visiting the Oregon Department of Justice website.


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