skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Feds Postpone Oath Ceremonies; Fewer New Citizens to Vote

play audio
Play

Wednesday, September 30, 2020   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A federal agency's decision to postpone naturalization ceremonies due to COVID-19 is likely to mean hundreds of thousands of people won't be able to vote in the November election -- and critics of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency say the move can't be viewed in isolation.

Even before the pandemic, said Mary-Kathryn Harcombe, legal director at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, wait times for citizenship applications have gotten longer. She said she believes the agency could have readily implemented virtual or socially distanced oath ceremonies -- the final step in the naturalization process -- rather than shutting them down.

"So, it's not just something bad that has happened because of the pandemic," she said. "It is sort of the culmination of what has seemed almost like a campaign to discourage people from naturalizing, by making the process slower and slower and slower."

So far, the agency hasn't released a plan for resuming ceremonies, and it's unclear how many people are waiting to take their citizenship oaths. According to agency data, USCIS completed around 156,000 naturalizations between March and August.

A Pew Research Center study this year found that an estimated 23 million naturalized citizens would be eligible to vote in November. However, Harcombe noted that those who haven't yet completed the process have had their hopes dashed.

"The fact that they have taken every step, and did so in a timely manner," she said, "only to now be told that this final little step -- just this swearing-in ceremony -- could prevent them from voting in this election is just devastating for them."

Harcombe also said the agency has, in the past few years, implemented more measures aimed at making citizenship harder to obtain.

"USCIS is traditionally not partisan," she said. "USCIS is not involved in enforcement; they aren't involved in any sort of the harsher aspects. In the last four years, USCIS has really shifted its focus and its attitude."

The agency had also announced rate hikes that will nearly double the cost of becoming a citizen. As of this Friday, Oct. 2, it would have cost a person almost $1,200 just to file the application.

However, on Tuesday, a federal court temporarily blocked the massive fee hike. Dozens of fees related to the immigration process are slated to increase as well.

The Pew study is at pewresearch.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021