Immigrants sue over delays in citizenship

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Eight immigrants who have waited years for their citizenship applications to clear tougher post-9/11 background checks claim in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the delays violate their constitutional rights of due process.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco and names the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security among the defendants. It seeks to enforce regulations in which the federal government must act on a citizenship application within 120 days of the applicant's interview.

The eight immigrants cleared traditional criminal background checks and other requirements only to see their applications bogged down by federal immigration officials' process of checking names against an FBI database, the plaintiffs' attorneys said.