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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2120

To authorize appropriations for improvements in the naturalization process.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 26, 1995

Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for improvements in the

naturalization process.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Naturalization Im5 provements Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) According to the Immigration and Natu9 ralization Service, by April 1995, 5,300,000 adults

10 and about 700,000 children will be eligible for citi-
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1 zenship. About 3,000,000 immigrants who were le2 galized under the Immigration Reform and Control

3 Act of 1986 will also be eligible for citizenship.

4 (2) The Immigration and Naturalization Serv5 ice estimates that about 338,445 naturalization

6 cases were pending at the end of fiscal year 1994.

7 (3) According to the Immigration and Natu8 ralization Service, applications increased 78 percent

9 from October 1994 to January 1995, compared with

10 the same period the year before. The percentage in11 crease in citizenship applications ranged from 9 per12 cent in San Antonio to 301 percent in Los Angeles.

13 (4) According to the American Immigration

14 Lawyers Association, estimates of the time it takes

15 from filing the citizenship application to being inter16 viewed range from 60 days to over 2 years.

17 (5) In addition to the enormous backlog in ap18 plications, the following are also included as barriers

19 to successfully completing the citizenship process:

20 lack of outreach and information services available

21 to the eligible population to inform potential appli22 cants about the benefits and legal consequences of

23 becoming a citizen; insufficient information and

24 counseling on the application process itself; and lack
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1 of access to English language and citizenship prepa2 ration classes.

3 (6) The Immigration and Naturalization Serv4 ice cites lack of English language skills as the pri5 mary reason applicants are denied citizenship.

6 (7) There is no Federal program that is specifi7 cally targeted to the educational needs of immi8 grants wishing to naturalize.

9 (8) President Clinton’s fiscal year 1996 budget

10 proposal requests $7,000,000 for Immigration and

11 Naturalization Service’s citizenship and relating op12 erating expenses as compared with $1,000,000,000

13 for border enforcement and assistance to States.

14 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

15 The following is the sense of the Congress:

16 (1) The right of citizenship through naturaliza17 tion underlies the greatness of our Nation in the

18 same way that citizenship by birth does.

19 (2) The rights accorded by the Constitution and

20 the laws of the United States upon citizens and

21 those lawfully in the United States, as well as upon

22 those who are entitled to seek legal status under

23 current law, must not be forsaken, weakened, nor

24 compromised. Reducing rights or services for every-
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1 one undermines our sense of responsibility as a de2 mocracy.

3 (3) Naturalization should become a national

4 priority to ensure that all residents are able to par5 ticipate fully in the rights and responsibilities that

6 go along with United States citizenship. It is the re7 sponsibility of the Federal Government to provide

8 the services necessary for naturalization.

9 (4) In order to reduce the backlog of pending

10 United States citizenship applications in Immigra11 tion and Naturalization Service offices across the

12 country, the Immigration and Naturalization Service

13 should increasingly privatize the administration of

14 the oral English and written civics exam. The Immi15 gration and Naturalization Service should determine

16 the appropriate agencies experienced in educational

17 testing to assist with this part of the naturalization

18 process.

19 (5) In order to privatize the administration of

20 the English oral and written civic exams, the Immi21 gration and Naturalization Service should develop a

22 national standard for each exam. The Immigration

23 and Naturalization Service should then determine

24 what the standard will consist of and how to admin25 ister the standard after it has been established.
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1 (6) The Immigration and Naturalization Serv2 ice should publicize the opportunity to take the oral

3 English and written civics exams with a private

4 agency authorized by the Immigration and Natu5 ralization Service as an alternative to testing with

6 the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The in7 clusion of private agencies authorized by the Immi8 gration and Naturalization Service to administer the

9 English oral and written civics exams will give appli10 cants the opportunity to complete the naturalization

11 process with greater efficiency.

12 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Immi14 gration and Naturalization Service such sums as may be

15 necessary for the following:

16 (1) To restructure and streamline Immigration

17 and Naturalization Service procedures to reduce

18 delays in the naturalization process.

19 (2) To promote local level, cooperative agree20 ments between the Immigration and Naturalization

21 Service and community organizations and institute

22 administrative reforms to minimize delays and pro23 mote outreach to the immigrant community.
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1 (3) To expand current services to suburbs and

2 target populations with special challenges such as

3 the elderly.

4 (4) To continue and expand collaborative ar5 rangements among nonprofit, government, and pri6 vate sector entities to deliver citizenship services (in7 cluding outreach and adult education classes) as ef8 fectively and efficiently as possible.

9 (5) To upgrade equipment and technology used

10 to report on naturalization statistics and the natu11 ralization application process.

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