Milanes v. Chertoff, 08 Civ. 2354 (S.D.N.Y. 2008)  

Thousands of Latinos and other immigrants may be one step closer to becoming United States citizens and voting in the November elections after a federal judge ordered the government defendants to produce key documents in an expedited fashion in a class action challenging unlawful delays in the processing of naturalization applications. The judge's ruling is a major victory for the plaintiffs and offers hope to those who wish to become citizens in time to vote in the November elections.  

The plaintiff class consists of all immigrants who have applied for naturalization but whose naturalization applications have not or will not be adjudicated within the legally required time frames.  Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF), the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), a not-for-profit public interest law firm based in Manhattan , and the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP ("Weil Gotshal").   

"Our clients will be irreparably harmed if they can not vote this fall," said Foster Maer, PRLDEF’s lead attorney on the case. "The opportunity to vote is critical to what being an American citizen is all about."  

On April 3, 2008, plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would require Defendants USCIS, FBI and the Attorney General to adjudicate class members’ applications for citizenship prior to the Presidential Election in November. The Judge’s ruling expediting the production of key documents is a critical prerequisite to obtaining this relief and should allow a hearing to be held in this class action early this summer.  

"The Court's ruling is an important first step in letting thousands of eligible legal immigrants enjoy one of the great benefits of citizenship: to vote in the State and Federal elections this Fall. We are pleased to be able to help them in their efforts," said attorney Richard Slack.  

Federal law requires USCIS to adjudicate naturalization applications within a reasonable time. USCIS’s failure to do so has resulted in thousands of immigrants waiting well over six months, and in some cases years, since the submission of their applications, with no decision and no word from USCIS.  

"The government has been sitting on our clients’ applications for years," said NYLAG lawyer Michael Sant’Ambrogio. "Some members of our class have already missed the opportunity to vote in two national elections. Without the Court’s intervention, tens of thousands of law-abiding, would-be citizens will be denied the opportunity to vote in November."  

The named plaintiffs, lawful Latino residents in the United States for at least the past five years, have submitted complete applications for naturalization that have not been adjudicated within a reasonable time. One named plaintiff, Omar Farfan, is a decorated veteran of the US Navy who applied for citizenship over three years ago, but has been unable to get a US government job because he is not a citizen.  

Nationally, hundreds of thousands of Latinos and other immigrants are waiting to finish the naturalization process, many of them brought into the process by a national naturalization campaign called Ya Es Hora. In New York alone, over 90,000 legal U.S. residents have been waiting for up to three years for their naturalization applications to be processed.