CAIR-Columbus announced today that is has filed another lawsuit against USCIS and the FBI for unreasonably delaying the citizenship application of an Iranian national who has been a permanent resident of the United States since 2007. This lawsuit marks the thirteenth plaintiff CAIR-Columbus is currently representing in Federal Court with some type of immigration application delay just since the beginning of 2017 alone.
“Since President Trump took office, we have seen an increase in delays of all types of immigration applications,” said Legal Director Romin Iqbal. “USCIS has been instructed by the Attorney General and the President to ‘rigorously enforce all grounds of inadmissibility and/or denial of immigration benefits’ and we believe this is contributing to USCIS delaying applications in order to look for any reason to deny them, even for minor issues that typically would not result in a denial.”
These increased vetting and screening standards are part of the Executive Order issued on March 6, 2017 commonly referred to as Muslim Ban 2.0. Despite other portions of the Executive Order being on hold due to various legal challenges, the rigorous enforcement and increased vetting are still in effect. View the Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security which discusses enforcement of increased vetting standards.
“The plaintiff in our most recent lawsuit has an impeccable record, with no criminal issues whatsoever.” said Jennifer Nimer, Executive Director of CAIR-Columbus. “There is absolutely no reason for USCIS to continue delaying this case despite repeated attempts of our client to determine the cause for the delay. USCIS simply refuses to give any information as to why they are not adjudicating his application. Unfortunately this is a trend we are seeing with all types of Muslim applicants, and we have no choice but to continue filing one lawsuit after another until USCIS stops this practice of unreasonable delays.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. There are three CAIR chapters in Ohio- Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.