Feds grapple with backlog for citizenship - Arizona focus

Immigration officials in Phoenix are churning out record numbers of new U.S. citizens, with as many as 2,000 to be sworn in this month alone. The push is part of a national effort to chip away at a mountain of backlogged applications, including many thousands from immigrants who had hoped to vote in November. Despite the increase in naturalizations, however, critics say the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is not working fast enough, so many immigrants won’t become citizens in time to vote. “Instead of people being able to participate in democracy, they are being caught up in the red tape of bureaucracy,” said Monica Sandschafer, head organizer of Arizona ACORN, a grass-roots organization that holds citizenship classes. “*

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