Thread: Top immigration official to step down

March 13, 2008, 9:04PM
New York Times

Emilio T. Gonzalez, the immigration official who promised to bring an ethos of corporate efficiency to the immigration bureaucracy but instead found his agency overwhelmed in record backlogs and delays, announced Thursday that he would resign on April 18.

Gonzalez, who has been director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services since January 2006, is one of a number of Bush administration officials who can be expected to leave in coming months, and there is no sign that he is leaving under pressure.

His resignation highlights the gap between his ambitious goals to speed the agency's work and its performance, with waiting times up to 18 months for citizenship applications, more than triple the five months that Gonzalez promised in January 2007.

He decided to step down to bring an end to nine years of commuting between Washington and Miami, where his family lives, he said in a message to the agency, part of the Homeland Security Department.

In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called Gonzalez "an extraordinary director who is leaving an indelible mark on the transformation and modernization" of the agency.

Initially Gonzalez, a naturalized citizen who was born in Cuba, made strides in reducing the notorious backlogs that cause anguish and uncertainty for many immigrants who seek to follow the law.

By September 2006, as a result of changes that he introduced, the work accelerated, with application times down to seven months.

Then Gonzalez championed 66 percent average fee increases that took effect last July. Coupled with the effects of a bureaucratic mix-up last summer over visas for highly skilled workers, the fee increases led to 2.5 million applications of all kinds in the months before the higher fees took effect. The agency pays for its operations almost entirely from fees.

Gonzalez's statement that he could not foresee the surge was criticized by immigration lawyers and lawmakers who noted that tens of thousands of applicants would not be naturalized in time to vote in November.

"The backlog is worse than ever," said Crystal Williams, deputy director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "Anybody who has observed immigration for any amount of time could have and did in fact predict the surge."

Several lawmakers called on President Bush to appoint a successor swiftly.

"I hope they will put someone in who is a really strong manager, not an ideologue," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5618226.html

Read between the lines the American Immigration Lawyers Association wanted faster turn around and of course the elitist politicians and their elitist contributors got their way.

If there is a backlog that can not be corrected and the United States is unable to process properly the applications then ALL immigration should be stopped for a year or two until the problem is solved!

One less La Raza member in our goverment.

Good ridence, and they think they will be able to process 20 to 38 million, right in your dreams, how lucky for you we will not be giving you the chance!!

I agree,immigration needs to be closed until applicants are processed and some order is restored.Plus a study should be done so we will not over populate our country and lower our standard of life.

We have water concerns as it is so we need to take a look at this whole mess.