End naturalization limbo

By the end of this week, 23 lawsuits will be filed in Utah's U.S. District Court on behalf of immigrants who want U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to decide whether they can be citizens.

Some of these refugees have literally waited years for naturalization. One completed a citizenship interview in 2003 and has passed background and fingerprint checks. He and his wife, who are Iraqis, are in bureaucratic limbo pending FBI name checks. A name can be singled out if it has surfaced in an investigation as a target of a probe, an associate or merely a witness.

Government officials say the delays are matters of security and that cases held up by FBI name checks comprise less than 1 percent of the names submitted for naturalization. That's little consolation to refugees who have complied with naturalization requirements but have not received citizenship. Some have fathered or given birth to children who are American citizens. Many have earned college degrees. But their careers and other plans are on hold until the FBI gives its authorization.

After the Sept. 11 attacks on America, security has to be an overarching concern. That's understood. But there should be some mechanism short of a lawsuit to compel USCIS to determine these applicants' status in a reasonable time frame. Some of these plaintiffs are highly trained professionals who came to the United States seeking opportunity and political freedom. In all likelihood, they will participate fully as citizens and contribute to the work force.

Hopefully, the filing of these lawsuits will bring these naturalization cases to completion. If the government can demonstrate that applicants are legitimate threats to security, they should not be granted citizenship. The applications of those who have dutifully gone through the required processes should not be unduly delayed. People who are bent on doing harm are not going to submit to rigorous background checks. Those who have jumped through all of the administrative hoops and appropriate checks deserve speedier resolution of their cases.