Smoother Road to Citizenship : 100 Take Part in Relaxed Naturalization Process Away From INS Center

Maria Isabel Gonzalez wanted to become a citizen, but the native of Mexico did not look forward to the requisite trip to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service offices, a destination that inspires dread in many. Stories of protracted delays, rude treatment and frustrating encounters with officialdom at INS headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles are legendary.

Instead, Gonzalez signed up to become a citizen at a community agency, took the required U.S. history and civics exam at a private testing service, and Friday had her final interview with an immigration officer--on the distinctly non-threatening grounds of a church.

“This is much more family-like, more comfortable,� Gonzalez, an almost-30-year resident of Southern California, declared as she waited to receive her naturalization certificate, embossed with the bald eagle symbol of the United States.

She is one of 100 aspiring citizens who participated Friday in a novel project designed to expedite immigrants through the naturalization process, which confers U.S. citizenship.

During 1994, naturalization sign-ups nationwide are expected to rival record levels, a testament to unprecedented immigration since the early 1980s. In the Los Angeles area, which has eclipsed New York as the largest source of new citizens, naturalization numbers are expected to exceed 90,000, almost doubling last year’s total.

Until Friday, Los Angeles-based INS officers have attended to citizenship applicants exclusively at service headquarters, a place that many immigrants would just as soon avoid. So, in an effort to allay fears, the officers traveled to Angelica Lutheran Church in the heavily Latino Pico-Union district.

The result, officials say, was encouraging: More than 90 of the 100 applicants were expected to qualify for citizenship--much higher than the 70% initial success rate among applicants Downtown. Those who qualified are scheduled to take the citizenship oath this fall.

“The process was very clean,� said Richard K. Rogers, INS district director in Los Angeles.

Authorities hope to repeat Friday’s experiment and dispatch citizenship officers to neighborhood sites regularly, Rogers said. Working more closely with community groups, the district director explained, officials seek to reduce delays for citizenship-seekers, who now must wait 10 months from the time they file applications until they swear allegiance to the United States.

“We want to make the process more user-friendly, and give people better service,� Rogers said.

That is not an easy task for an agency that has developed notoriety--disputed by INS administrators--as cold, uncaring and often incompetent.

Just last week, Altagracia Arevalo, a citizenship applicant from El Salvador, said she was reduced to tears at INS headquarters when an officer yelled at her after she had waited all day inquiring about permission to travel outside the United States. The officer, she said, criticized her for applying for citizenship through a community group--something that the INS is now publicly encouraging--and then refused to listen to her request.

“I’ve never been treated like that before,� said Arevalo, a 61-year-old grandmother and El Monte resident who has lived in the United States for almost 40 years. “It was an ugly experience. No one should be treated that way.�

Rogers, the INS district director, said the incident was being investigated.

Friday’s experiment was organized with the National Assn. of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials, which has been shepherding thousands of area residents through the citizenship application thicket. Association staffers had assisted all 100 applicants who were interviewed on Friday and prepared them for their encounters with INS officers.

Immigrants are eligible for citizenship after five years of legal residence, or three years if spouses of U.S. citizens. Aspiring citizens must show good moral character, pass a basic U.S. history and civics test, and demonstrate a knowledge of English (the language requirement is waived for some elderly residents). Many find the process daunting.

For the Latino association and other groups, assisting would-be citizens is a means of increasing clout at the ballot box--at a time when many believe that anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise nationwide. Citizenship gives the right to vote, along with other benefits, such as access to certain government jobs.

“Our democracy is in jeopardy in Los Angeles,� said Councilman Mike Hernandez, who noted that nearly 1 million Angelenos--more than one in four residents--are non-citizens.

The right to vote matters to Isabel Gonzalez. She is troubled by what she sees as an anti-immigrant attitude in Gov. Pete Wilson’s remarks.

“I think immigrants help this country by working hard,� said Gonzalez, a 53-year-old cafeteria worker who resides in Maywood. “I hope the governor learns that he has to show heart to other races as well as his own.�

Traditionally, Mexican natives have been hesitant to renounce allegiance to their homeland and swear oaths to the United States. But Gonzalez said she has overcome nostalgia for the old country, particularly since her five children were all born on U.S. soil.

Mario Valles, 41, is another Mexican immigrant eager to become a U.S. citizen. “I never thought it could happen so fast,� Valles said Friday after completing his interview.

A machine operator who lives in Montebello, Valles recalled crossing illicitly into U.S. territory from Tijuana in 1977 with a group that included a pregnant woman and an 80-year-old grandmother. Valles later gained legal residence via the amnesty program of 1987-88, along with about 3 million other onetime illegal immigrants. Most amnesty recipients are only now becoming eligible for citizenship; many are wasting no time in applying.

“With all the harsh things people here are saying about people without papers, I think it’s better I apply as soon as possible,� Valles said. “I’ve had opportunities in this country that I would never have had in Mexico.�