February 25, 2000
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Good morning. My name is James T. Beall, Jr., a member of the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County. I am representing my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors. We are all concerned that adequate services be provided to all residents of our County. Since at least 1/3 of our residents are immigrants, the role of the Immigration and Naturalization Services is extremely important. With this in mind, I would like to present the following information to you. Background of immigrants in Santa Clara County: Santa Clara County is the center of immigration in all Northern California, with a greater number of immigrants, percentage of immigrants, and diversity of immigrants than any other county north of Los Angeles. One-third of the County population is immigrant, or foreign-born. Including the US-born kids of immigrant parents, 60% of the County's population constitutes "immigrant stock". This is over 1,000,000 of the County's 1.7 million population. Commitment of Santa Clara County
1. Santa Clara County has demonstrated its commitment to improving the lives of
Immigrants, especially the lives of legal immigrants who need citizenship to
· Be fully self-sufficient We provided about a million and a half-dollars in County money from January 1997 to June 2000. We secured another million and a half-dollars from foundations and provided funding to 17 different Community Based Organizations serving very diverse immigrant populations. These CBOs have submitted over 14,000 citizenship applications to the INS, of which only about one-half have been scheduled for interview. Assisted approximately 26,000 other citizenship applicants with some sort of citizenship information or support, for a total of 40,000 unduplicated client support. · The Citizenship Program held semi-annual Free Citizenship Days at the County Building or the Center for Employment Training, in 18 different languages. · Currently, CBOs are providing customized citizenship, literacy and English classes, interview preparation workshops, assistance with the disability waiver, legal advice, and providing avenues for civic engagement. · In August, 1998, after two years of offering assistance of all kinds to the San Jose office, we signed an agreement with the INS to place nine county employees at the local office to assist in reducing the backlog. This was the first program of its kind in the Country and took over a year to negotiate. Many of the employees stayed one and a half years for a cost to the county of over 400,000. Challenges 1. Approximately one-half of the County citizenship applications through CBOs have not yet been called for interview. Many cases three and a half years old have not had the opportunity to proceed, either to be fully eligible for benefits or to be able to register to vote and participate in our Democracy. The County and its CBOs continue to receive thousands of inquiries per year regarding un-adjudicated cases. 2. The current waiting period for citizenship is 1 to 3 and ½ years. Other offices have a shorter waiting period and a more chronological, sequential backlog reduction plan. Despite its efforts to help the INS, Santa Clara County feels that its efforts have gone for naught. Clients complain bitterly about both the long backlog harming their rights and about the unfair waiting period for different applicants who have applied at different times. 3. The County also funds refugee and immigration legal programs. CBOs such as Catholic Charities report that the waiting period for refugees to obtain a green card is over two years; for family members to receive a green card is over three years; and for persons receiving political asylum who seek green cards is over four years. In addition, those professionals in Silicon Valley who seek a green card typically have to wait between 2 and 3 years. 4. The County and the CBOs receive many complaints of rudeness and intimidation by INS examiners. Less educated legal immigrants who are taking the citizenship test for the first time frequently do not experience a supportive atmosphere at their interview. 5. From the County's perspective, the challenges to the INS are · To recognize that the heart of the immigrant demographic shift in Northern California is right here in Santa Clara County. · To prevent our county residents from being unduly and unfairly denied the services which are more timely delivered in other offices of the SF INS District. · To interview clients in more culturally sensitive ways. · To hire and retain sufficient examiners to meet the needs of our County. Some ideas that could be considered are: - Establish a District Office in San Jose. - Create a federal program for housing subsidies in areas such as San Jose to attract and retain examiners. - Establish an adjudication center in Salinas or another location within the boundaries of the San Jose Sub-Office where housing is more available, to attract and retain adjudicators. Most Santa Clara County residents will find a way to get there; if they can't get there, provide transportation. - Allow Santa Clara County residents to have their cases adjudicated in San Francisco, where the waiting period is less. - Schedule persons doing inquiries about their cases on the spot, even if the appointment is 6 months later, so that the person will not continue doing inquiries month after month, creating more paperwork, confusion, frustration, and work in general. - Convert some of the customer service laboratory workers into adjudicators. - Pay adjudicators at a higher level with higher, more realistic, regional salary adjustments. - Streamline the adjudication process so that more cases can be handled per day. It is not the County's role to make any changes at the INS. We offer this brainstorming of potential solutions as friendly suggestions to better serve our County's immigrant population and to allow the work at the INS to be more efficient, enjoyable, and productive.
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Bay Area Congressional Delegation
Studies Chronic Delays at Immigration Agency Statement of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren Statement of Jennifer Dineen-Ocon Statement of Sister Marilyn Lacey Statement of Jacob and Yetta Bromley Statement of Debra Jaramillo-Coker Statement of George Windsor Jones
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