WASHINGTON (By Julia Preston, NYT)
October 2, 2009
—
Although President Obama has put off
an immigration overhaul until next
year, the federal agency in charge
of approving visas is planning ahead
for the possibility of giving legal
status to millions of undocumented
immigrants, the agency’s director
said Thursday.
“We are under way to prepare for
that,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the
director of the agency, the United
States Citizenship and Immigration
Services, said in an interview. Mr.
Obama has told immigration officials
a legalization program would be part
of legislation the White House would
propose, said Mr. Mayorkas, who
became director in August. The
agency’s goal, he said, is to be
ready to expand rapidly to handle
the gigantic increase in visa
applications it would face if the
legislation, known as comprehensive
immigration reform, passed Congress.
The citizenship agency faces a
difficult balancing act, preparing
for a potential workload bigger than
any it has faced, based on
legislation in early stages of
discussion that is fiercely opposed
by many lawmakers in Congress. Also,
the agency must work to reduce
backlogs and delays that have
hampered its performance.
There are no official estimates of
the number of undocumented
immigrants who would apply for legal
documents. The Pew Hispanic Center
and the Center for Immigration
Studies, two research groups in
Washington, estimate at least 10.8
million undocumented immigrants live
in this country. But a large number
of those would not be eligible for
legal status for many reasons,
including past immigration
violations.
Currently, the citizenship agency
can handle applications from about
six million immigrants a year, Mr.
Mayorkas said, including the
time-consuming collection of
fingerprints and other biometric
identity information. Under some
plans for legalization, the agency
might receive that many applications
in a few weeks.
An example of the planning, Mr.
Mayorkas said, is an effort to
improve the agency’s ability to
receive applications via postal mail
at secure reception points known as
lockboxes. The agency currently
receives about 65 percent of
applications through lockboxes,
which is more efficient than
receiving them through local
offices. The agency is trying to
move quickly to receive all
applications through lockboxes.
One idea calls for undocumented
immigrants to start the legalization
process by verifying their presence
in the United States through a
simple registration form mailed to a
lockbox, according to officials
familiar with the planning.
As part of the planning, Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano,
Mr. Mayorkas and other officials
have held meetings around the
country in recent weeks to gather
suggestions from the public for the
overhaul.
The Obama administration’s planning
contrasts with that of the Bush
administration, which also supported
a legalization program. Some
opponents of President Bush’s
proposal, which was defeated in
Congress in 2007, cited the
immigration agencies’ lack of
preparation.
Some lawmakers who oppose the
overhaul have questioned whether the
planning was a good use of limited
resources. “There is a risk to
national security they will take
their eyes off background checks of
immigrants,” said Representative
Steve King of Iowa, the senior
Republican on the House immigration
subcommittee, “while they are busy
setting up for legislation that has
not been introduced in any way,
shape or form.”
