Lincoln immigration lawyer weighs in on “quite lengthy” legal citizenship process

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement searched the Glenn Valley Foods facility in Omaha, questions surrounding immigration and citizenship still remain.

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Allison Heimes, an immigration lawyer at Brown Immigration Law Firm, said the process of obtaining citizenship isn’t an easy one.

“The United States government hasn’t changed the immigration laws for four decades,” she said. “So, the rules that we’re working under, the rules that immigrants are working under are pretty antiquated. What that’s resulting in is a backlog that is so extreme that it’s difficult to operate in a lawful way while you’re waiting for that backlog to subside.”

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, a few ways immigrants can obtain citizenship are through employment, marriage, joining the military or by seeking asylum.

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While there are many requirements and different pathways, Heimes said there are a few other factors that are shorthanded.

“The immigration judges, there are too few,” she said. “Court hearings are happening in four-year increments instead of four-month increments. So, people have work authorization or they’re going to their hearings, it’s just taking a really long time for them to get the status of approval. So again, they’re trying to do it the right way but the right way is a very long path.”

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And because there are so many people trying to come to the U.S., she said there is a very long waitlist.

“It is a process that takes a great deal of time so you’ll have people that are here sort of in limbo,” she said. “They have a status but it’s not a very secure one while they wait to get their green card so it’s so not so easy to just say they should do it the legal way. The legal way is quite lengthy.”

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