NPNA Statement on Trump Nominee for USCIS Director 

(forwarded from National Partnership for New Americans)

This morning the Senate will take a committee vote to confirm Lee Francis Cissna, Trump's nominee for Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) believes Cissna is the wrong pick, encourages a NO vote on his confirmation, and expects that our champions will remain vigilant about the agency's work if he is confirmed.
 

Over half a million people have applied to become citizens since the beginning of the year. Last week USCIS published data on the second fiscal quarter, representing the period between January and March. In that time, applications rose 15% over last year- an unprecedented intake for a single quarter.
 

Meanwhile, it's harder to become a citizen now than it's been in a decade. The processing times are slowing and the backlog continues to grow. This year 316,361 applications have been processed-either approved or denied, a 15.3 percent slower rate than last year. The backlog has grown 66.6 percent since last year. Now 744,106 people have applications pending- and that's just naturalization.  
 

SEE NPNA ANALYSIS ON THE DATA HERE.