Residents protest U.S. citizenship application delays in Dallas

05:40 PM CST on Monday, January 28, 2008
By JANA WALLIS / The Dallas Morning News

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Video: Residents protest U.S. citizenship application delays
Chanting "We want to vote," about 75 legal residents whose applications for U.S. citizenship have been delayed protested outside the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services office in Dallas on Monday.

The residents want to become citizens in time to register as voters and cast ballots in this year's presidential election. Citizenship applications typically take about seven months to process. An increase in applications, however, has caused delays as long as 18 months, the USCIS reported.


JANA WALLIS/Staff
Some protestors wore these T-shirts. A crowd gathered outside the USCIS field office in Dallas on Monday sang "God Bless America" and waved American flags. Some wore T-shirts that read, “We waited in line, we followed the rules. Citizens 7/4/08. Don’t break the promise.â€