Pryce Calls for an End to Ohio's Naturalization Application Backlog
 

WASHINGTON, DC –  Today, in a meeting with the Director of the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USBCIS), Eduardo Aguirre, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-OH-15) called for the agency to immediately address Ohio’s intolerable naturalization application processing delays.  Joining the meeting were Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Congressman Dave Hobson (R-OH-7).  The meeting was a follow-up to a letter the three legislators sent, along with Congressman Patrick Tiberi (R-OH-12), in December 2003, asking Director Aguirre for help in addressing the severe immigration service backlog in Ohio.  Ohio currently averages a twenty-four month processing time for naturalization applications, lagging far behind other states.

“Ohio’s visa holders are students, teachers, business men and women, hospital employees, lawyers, doctors and refugees.  The current bureaucracy and staffing levels at the regional office of the USCIS make it mathematically impossible for residents of Ohio to comply with the naturalization requirement.”

“We do not want an immigrant’s decision about where to live in the U.S. to be based upon the processing times of the USCIS.  Immigrants who choose to make Ohio their home should not be penalized for that choice.  They deserve the same level of customer service as every other state.”

“Today’s meeting was productive.  Director Aguirre and his staff were receptive to our concerns, and I look forward to working with him to make progress for Ohio’s legal immigrant community.”

            Congresswoman Pryce represents the Fifteenth District of Ohio, which includes Western Franklin County, Madison, and Union Counties.  She serves as Chairman of the House Republican Conference for the 108th Congress, making her the fourth ranking member of House leadership.  The Congresswoman also co-chairs the Cancer Caucus.