Posted on 08/26/2005 4:17:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal judge is ordering the government to expedite delivery of green cards or other documents to thousands of immigrants who have been granted legal residency in the United States.
The suit represents at least 12,500 immigrants nationwide who have been waiting, sometimes years, for their legal documents that prove they are in the country legally. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered immigration officials Thursday to come up with a plan within 60 days on how they are going to expedite providing documents, even temporary ones, to the immigrants who have been declared U.S. residents by federal immigration judges.
"The ruling recognizes that thousands of lawful permanent residents nationwide have been wrongfully denied their proof of status," said Javier Maldonado, executive director of the Texas Lawyers' Committee. "The Department of Homeland Security can no longer deprive thousands of lawful permanent residents of the essential documentation that enables them to work legally, obtain identification documents, and visit their families abroad."
Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services in San Francisco, said the agency was reviewing the decision and was not prepared to comment.
The government argued that the delay in issuing at least temporary documents, which allow the immigrants Social Security cards, driver's licenses and the ability to work, was in part due to backlogged security background checks on immigrants following the 2001 terror attacks.
In her ruling, Patel noted that, before the terror attacks, the government issued temporary residency documents to immigrants weeks after an immigration judge approved of their residency. She said immigration officials have not identified one of the applicants "as a national security threat, much less one who has been detained or deported as a result of security concerns."
The judge added that the government conceded that the security checks employed "would not have caught a single September 11 hijacker."
The case was brought by immigrants who said they were denied employment, promotions or other government services because they could not prove they were U.S. residents.
The case is Santillan v. Gonzales, 04-2686.
I guess the government can't even handle the LEGAL side of immigration properly!
Interesting.
As the wife of a legal immigrant, I can verify that.
They can't. Even before 9/11 they were way behind in processing immigrants' papers. They're like the DMV of the federal government.
DMV = Dept. of Motor Vehicles
Looks like it's time to put pressure on our elected representitives to either impeach some of these activist judges, or get their keisters thrown out of office. Either way is fine with me.
The year they abolished the INS, i applied for a OPT permit to work legally over the summer on my f1 visa. After you should get it in 60 days and after 100 days without notice you can request a temporary permit at your local office. On the 99th day they updated my status to approved and then made me wait another 2 weeks to get the damn thing. By then summer was almost over and i had to give up my internship.
Recently though, they have been incredibly effecient. Most recently i got something that should have taken 2 weeks in approved in 5 days and then temporary documents issued to me immediately.
The judge is an idiot.
I was a LEGAL immigrant in the early seventies and I and my family knew we were here at the discretion of the United States. We accepted the rules and followed the law.
Comming to and living in this country has been a privilage and a blessing. It was not and is not a right.
Wheres Asa Hutchinson on this? We need him to step in and ......eh...Thats a joke people..or he's a joke I should say.
how is telling the government to do their damn jobs being an activist? Did you even read the article?
why? the CIS is the one that is messing up. These people are already green card holders but dont have the card to prove it.
My bad!! I scanned it and replied BEFORE posting.
In this case, I have to support this judge. Sorry for my confusion!
i know, its like passing your drivers test but notg having a licence or even a temporary one.
That's a nice bowing down to the government, but from a natural born citizen, the government should be doing their jobs and getting out the proper paperwork to people who are LEGALLY here. They should not be dragging their heals and endagering the freedom of the good people who decided to jump through all the hoops and get here legally.
And the open border lobby would have us believe this quagmired government is going to oversee another new guest worker program? Here's the proof they have no intention of handling that properly either.
Enforce the law!
yes - and all the while the government is bending over backwards not to offend ILLEGAL immigrants- in some cases, even having the states give them in-state tuition or government-backed loans.
Stories like this just illustrate how completely screwed up our immigration policies and enforcement are.
ah, the OBL never relies on logic. Just emotion and attacks.
BTW, I fully appreciate and support those that want to come to this country and become Americans. My ancestors did that and they did it by following the law, and then fully assimilating. Anything short of that is unacceptable.
Patel sounds like a name of someone from India - perhaps an immigrant. I wonder if the judge should have recused herself? Not that considerations of ethics would ever stop someone from allowing the overrun of the country, of course.
I agree.....but, why stop there? Let's impeach the rogue congresscritters too. I'm totally fed up! They are destroying America! I'd be happy to buy the rope, if we could bypass the impeachment process. Rope's faster, and it's better than bullets. You can use the same rope more than once. :o)
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