Immigrants sue over citizenship delays

We have written much about the delays in the federal government's processing of naturalization petitions.  AMY TAXIN of the Orange County Register reports that a group of immigrants in Southern California sued the federal government yesterday to get decisions on their petitions, which have been tied up for months or years in lengthy FBI name checks. The class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the ACLU of Southern California and immigrant rights groups, aims to help immigrants who filed citizenship applications and passed their civics and English tests but have had their cases held up pending FBI name checks, which can require officials to sift through papers by hand. The suit also represents green card-holders who have applied for citizenship but not been given an interview because their name checks are pending.

KJ