I pointed out that when you have a grandparent in Israel who came from Iraq, and maybe a parent or sibling in France, and you live in New York City, the clearance process can be exceedingly difficult.
I worked for a while with a fellow who'd held a chair at Moscow University in a very narrow field. He'd have gotten a security clearance for the work he was doing without difficulty except that every single individual in Moscow who knew him well, even his relatives, had immigrated to the United States, France, Germany, Argentina, Australia or Israel. They were everywhere!
The clearance could not be obtained in time. He moved to a different job that didn't require a clearance. He was replaced by another individual who shared the same religion, but he'd taken care to make sure his mother and father were born in the US, not Russia, and he'd lived at only 2 addresses his entire life. He had a clearance already!
Man, that sucks.
I interviewed for a DOJ job several weeks ago, and asked FReepers to pray for me. And I have kids living on 3 continents!