Editorial: Citizenship funding problems need fixing

The gateway to citizenship in this country is a model of
inefficiency. The bureaucracy is already encouraged to process
cases slowly by its stilted funding model ““ and now it wants
to double the cost of becoming a citizen.

Becoming a citizen for most immigrants could soon require an
Internet connection and an $800 charge ““ up from the current
$400 application fee.

“Our expectation is that people who have the opportunity
to become U.S. citizens realize that the cost and sacrifice is
worth the investment in their future,” U.S. Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Christopher Bentley
told the Los Angeles Times.

Alternatively, here’s our explanation: The funding
structure for the bureau is horribly inefficient and the
consequence is that many low-income immigrants and legal permanent
residents could soon be barred from obtaining citizenship.

The root of all the money problems is that the bureau receives
no regular budget appropriations ““ instead, it’s left
to fund itself, primarily through fees.

But immigration and citizenship ““ which is, of course, the
foundation of the U.S. ““ should not be denied to anyone based
on their ability to pay. Citizenship should be earned, not through
money, but through an understanding of one’s civic duties and
a desire to achieve the American dream.

The fee structure of the bureau also provides an incentive to
keep a large backlog of cases. Expedited processing and other
premium services are offered ““ at a price ““ and are the
only resource the bureau has to fund asylum and refugee programs,
military naturalizations and other special programs, according to
the Citizenship and Immigration Services ombudsman’s 2006
annual report to Congress.

The dilemma is that the bureau needs to process applications
slow enough that people will pay to jump to the head of the line.
This is the only way the bureau can pay for special programs.

Instead of forcing immigration processing through this sieve of
funding issues, Congress should simply fund a process that ought to
be provided free to begin with.

While it is unrealistic to expect Congress to begin funding the
bureau in the middle of the fiscal year, at the very least the
Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau needs to update its
internal financial plans and make fee increases incremental.

According to the 2006 report to Congress, the bureau calculates
its fees based on data that is now almost 10 years old and was
based on processes and costs that are obsolete and weren’t
even accurate at the time. On top of that, the report states that
the bureau only recently created a staff position in charge of all
the budget concerns.

A doubling of the application fee for citizenship is
unacceptable, and an increase from $95 to $800 since just 1998 is
unreasonable. This new position in charge of budget oversight needs
to take control and keep any necessary fee increases small and
incremental.

Or, better yet, Congress needs to find the resources to fund one
of the fundamental processes that created the United States.
Immigrants should not be discriminated against based on their
access to the Internet or their ability to pony up to the U.S.
government.