Mr. Chairman. let me begin by thanking the chairman of the committee and the ranking member for their thoughtfulness as they approached this amendment. and try to address the body on this particular issue. The issue at hand is that of naturalization. Too often when we talk about the Immigration and Naturalization Service within the Department of Justice. we forget what the "N" in INS stands for. Naturalization is one of the principal components of the work of the INS. Unfortunately. too many people do not see the naturalization efforts of the INS. Mr. Chairman. by the end of this decade. before we reach the 21st century. there will be nearly 11.5 million people in this country who will be eligible for U.S. citizenship. Let me give some quick information on where we are right now. The INS approved during fiscal year 1994 roughly 420.000 applications for naturalization. people who wanted to become U.S. citizens. At the end of that fiscal year. they had a backlog of 300.000 people wishing to become U.S. citizens. This fiscal year. the INS estimates that it will have 900.000 people who will come through their doors applying for citizenship.
Keywords matched
naturalization Naturalization Immigration