But in August her problems were compounded when the INS sent her another letter telling her she would have to be fingerprinted again, although the government got a set of her prints last year. She wrote again to the INS but has not heard back. Tran was among more than 300 immigrants who Sunday turned to the newly formed Independent Monitoring Board for help with problems dealing with the INS Chicago office. Hou is also a member of the Independent Monitoring Board, a coalition of 44 community-based organizations that announced the board's formation last month. The Independent Monitoring Board plans to establish a database of botched and delayed cases so it can make a stronger argument for reform, said Dale Asis, director of the Coalition of African, Asian and Latino Immigrants of Illinois.
Most cases are to be referred to the immigrants' congressmen.
After a second session Dec. 2, the Independent Monitoring Board hopes to collect 2,000 cases, analyze them and present the data to the local INS office in January, Asis said. Cabrera said cases brought to their attention that are more than two years old will be moved immediately to the front of the line. Cases fall through the cracks, she said, and the local INS office works to resolve them within 45 days once they are discovered. Cabrera said improvements in recent years in the Chicago office have reduced the average wait for citizenship to 10 months. Among the changes are a new computer system and the opening of support centers in neighborhoods.