Class-action granted for green card delays

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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...MNGBU99B1B1.DTL

 

Class-action granted for green card delays

Thousands eligible to join challenge on U.S. foot-dragging

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

 

Thursday, October 14, 2004

 

A federal judge in San Francisco has granted nationwide class-action status to a lawsuit accusing immigration officials of stalling paperwork for legal U.S. residents, causing delays that can keep them out of the workforce and prevent them from traveling abroad.

 

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel's order, issued Tuesday, allows the suit to proceed on behalf of thousands of immigrants as a challenge to the government's practice, said Michelle Rhyu, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

 

The suit, filed in July, accuses a branch of the Department of Homeland Security of systematically holding up the processing of green cards after legal residence is granted. The documents make immigrants eligible to hold jobs, obtain driver's licenses and Social Security cards, and re-enter the United States if they leave.

 

Green cards formerly were issued in a few months but now take much longer, sometimes a year or more, the suit alleges. Patel said the government had cited the need to conduct background checks on each immigrant.

 

The suit seeks a court order requiring officials to issue evidence of legal residence "in a timely manner.'' Rhyu said the plaintiffs also want the judge to require immediate issuance of a temporary document while the permanent one is being processed.

 

Since the lawsuit was filed, seven of the 10 named plaintiffs were given green cards -- after waits of 10 to 20 months -- and the other three were given dates for the start of final processing of their documents.

 

The government argued that those developments made the case moot, or at least inappropriate for class-action status, but Patel disagreed. She noted that the remaining three applications are still pending, that six additional plaintiffs are seeking to join the suit and that the practices challenged in the lawsuit remain in effect.

 

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

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