Thousands of immigrants were on the verge of becoming U.S. citizens when the pandemic struck
Miami Herald
MIAMI — With his mother in deportation proceedings, the sooner that Luis, an immigrant from Venezuela, finishes the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, the better. Naturalization, the family’s immigration lawyer said, would allow Luis to petition for his mother to receive a green card and remain legally in Miami.
Until recently, things were on track: Luis had filed his 20-page application form back in December, the earliest he was able to under current law. After successfully moving past the next step in the naturalization process — a criminal background check — Luis was given an early April appointment for his citizenship interview.
But then the coronavirus pandemic struck, closing the offices of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that administers the country’s lawful immigration system. Luis’ interview, as well as all other in-person services at USCIS, including naturalization oath ceremonies, were deferred until further notice.
“It’s very frustrating, and very worrying. This process costs a lot of money, and it’s something you look forward to for a long time. It makes you wish for there to be some other way for my interview to take place, maybe online,” said Luis, who declined to disclose his last name because of his relatives’ immigration status.
“But that’s the way it is,” he added. “We are at the mercy of the [immigration agencies] and we can’t do anything about it. They do what they do and if you like it good, and if you don’t like it, then too bad.”
Immigration lawyers and nonprofit service providers say that the suspension of in-person naturalization services has meant more instability for immigrant families during a time of crisis.
“Naturalization can make a big difference in folks’ lives,” said Vanessa Joseph, an immigration lawyer at Catholic Legal Services with a focus on citizenship. “We’re in the middle of an economic downturn. Maybe there are job openings in the government, but you can’t get those jobs if you’re not a citizen. Maybe there are some scholarships or financial aid benefits that your family could take advantage of, but you are not a U.S. citizen so you don’t qualify.”
The longer the naturalization suspension goes on, the more likely it is that families will permanently lose out on some of the benefits that citizenship bestows.
“Kids under 18 become citizens automatically if they are lawful permanent residents and their parents naturalize. But if your kids age out, they have to do an application later on their own,” said Miami immigration attorney Elina Magaly Santana. “I have a client who is concerned because one of his kids is turning 18 over the summer so he’s just watching the clock. It’s a big worry.”
Many are stuck in a similar kind of limbo.
According to Boundless Immigration, a company that helps immigrants obtain green cards and citizenship, more than 125,000 would-be new Americans were fully vetted by the U.S. government and approved for citizenship when USCIS offices shut down. The last step in the naturalization process, the oath ceremony, suddenly
slipped out of reach.
“It’s a nice ceremony and they give you your flag, but it’s not really essential,” said Ms. Santana.
A prolonged wait to clinch citizenship also imperils immigrants’ voting rights.
With each additional day that USCIS offices remain closed, according to another Boundless Immigration estimate, an additional 2,100 potential new voters run out of time to be eligible to cast a ballot in the presidential election.
“What you don’t want is for there to be a situation where somebody who very well could have been ready to go in March cannot vote in August [in Florida’s primary election] all because of the backlog and the delays and the uncertainty,” said Ms. Joseph. “We need to rethink these oath ceremonies and how we do them.”
The pressing need many immigrants have for speedy naturalization — combined with the science that shows a markedly increased risk of virus transmission in public indoor spaces — has sparked a push for virtual oath ceremonies. In the House, a group of Democratic lawmakers is advocating for virtual naturalization ceremonies to be green-lit as part of the next coronavirus relief package.
“We are really advocating for virtual oath ceremonies because it’s not fair for folks who have been in this process for years to have their dreams deferred because of this pandemic when the Supreme Court is able to do oral arguments over the phone and people are able to get married on Zoom,” said Krystina François, executive director of Miami-Dade County’s Office of New Americans. “You should still be able to become a citizen using technology as well.”
Ms. Santana, the Miami immigration lawyer, agreed.
“I understand USCIS’ desire to want to meet people in person for the citizenship interview because there are so many security issues and we need to make sure that we are letting the right people become citizens,” she said. “But for the actual oath ceremony, at that point the person has been cleared. We know they don’t represent any sort of danger, so I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to do it virtually.”
In response, USCIS has indicated that there are legal and logistical considerations that make the virtual administration of naturalization oaths impossible.
In a statement, a USCIS spokesperson also said that, “in certain limited circumstances, USCIS is conducting small in-person naturalization ceremonies prior to re-opening our offices to the public where proper social distancing precautions are ensured.”
On May 12, six immigrants were sworn in as new U.S. citizens in an outdoor ceremony in southern Pennsylvania. In Arizona, some have been able to take the naturalization oath in the parking lot of Phoenix’s USCIS field office.
According to the USCIS spokesperson, when offices do reopen, oath ceremonies “may be shorter to limit exposure to those in attendance.”
Although USCIS has continued accepting new applications over the course of the pandemic — even as immigrants already in the pipeline remained stuck in the last stages of the process — interest in applying for citizenship has waned.
“We’ve seen a significant decrease in the number of people coming to us and saying that they would like to apply,” said Ms. Joseph, from Catholic Legal
Services.
“I would say a lot of that is because they aren’t able to walk into our office the way they are used to, which was for them the easiest way to get help. Now the process is on the phone, and that creates extra steps.”
Also at issue is the $725 filing fee to submit a naturalization application, a price tag that some are balking at in the middle of an economic downturn.
“People are concerned that this is not the moment to spend money,” said Ms. Santana.
The same communities disproportionately impacted by the economic crunch brought on by the coronavirus overlap with the groups that drive naturalization in South Florida and elsewhere.
“You have a lot of people who are working less hours than they previously did.
“Some folks are just right out of work. So I think there are a lot of people who are going through a number of different things and they are a bit less focused on naturalization because they are trying to figure out where their next meal is going to come from,” said Ms. Joseph.
In the meantime, the community services that were once widely available at places like public libraries to raise awareness about naturalization, including citizenship classes and information sessions, have reverted to online formats.
The electoral ramifications of a prolonged naturalization freeze, which limits the number of potential new immigrant voters, could be more pronounced in Florida than almost anywhere else, given the thin margins that separate winning and losing candidates in statewide contests.
During a normal year, the Miami metropolitan area alone swears in around 40,000 naturalized citizens. In 2018, Ron DeSantis became governor with a margin of 32,463 votes. Rick Scott won his Senate seat by just a hair over 10,000 votes.
“In any electorate like Florida’s that is closely and evenly divided, any shift in demography can be decisive,” said Casey Klofstad, a political scientist at the University of Miami whose areas of expertise include elections and immigrant political behavior.
Underlining the electoral impact of naturalization is the fact that oath ceremonies also serve as voter registration juggernauts, since representatives of local election departments are usually on hand at the end of the events to register new citizens.
In Miami-Dade, the county’s Elections Department collects an average of 40 voter registration applications per oath ceremony. Since the department attends roughly 110 ceremonies per year, around 4,400 new voters are registered yearly as a result.
According to Ms. Santana, the presidential election is top of mind for the clients of hers who are currently stuck in the naturalization pipeline.
“Frankly, the biggest question I’m getting from them right now is, ‘Do you think I will be able to vote in November?’ It’s the biggest concern,” she said.
Among those hoping to cast a ballot in the fall is Luis, the immigrant from Venezuela.
“It would be really important for me to be able to participate in this country’s democracy and to express through my vote how I feel about things going on right now, from how the pandemic is being managed to how immigrants are treated,” he said.