US Homeland Security to settle suit alleging naturalization delays
- United States
- 08/13/2008
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday reached a settlement agreement in a federal class action suit brought by two pro-immigration advocacy groups seeking to force the government to rule on the naturalization applications of over 350 immigrants living in Washington state. The settlement, still subject to approval by a US district court judge, would require the government to decide on the applications of all remaining class members by October 18 and reimburse the plaintiffs for $185,000 in attorneys fees. The Northwest Immigration Rights Project and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit last October after immigrants complained that delays in the processing of their applications for citizenship violated federal law, which states in relevant part:
[A] decision to grant or deny the application shall be made at the time of the initial examination or within 120-days after the date of the initial examination of the applicant for naturalization.
Immigrants may seek naturalization before a district court under 8 USC 1447(b) if the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has failed to make a determination within 120 days. The government has stated that the delays were necessary for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to run security checks on applicants. The government was not required to admit any fault, wrongdoing or liability as a result of the settlement.
In June 2007, the ACLU filed a separate class action lawsuit against federal immigration officials, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief on behalf of immigration detainees, alleging that inadequate medical and mental health care at detention facilities has caused “unnecessary suffering [and] avoidable death.” Later that year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said DHS policies for detainees with AIDS do not meet international and domestic standards of care, and that the DHS consistently fails to enforce its own minimum standards. The DHS recently released a report stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials do not always follow proper medical protocols when dealing with immigrants.
