Immigrant rights groups are taking the federal government to court over access to records tied to applications for citizenship.
The most recent data available shows a backlog of more than 750,000 green card holder requests to naturalize.
Court documents say activists filed the lawsuit because U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services did not respond to a huge Freedom of Information Act request. Much of the request was for documents about delays in processing of citizenship applications.
The government’s goal is to process applications in 5 to 7 months. But the current estimated wait time in Phoenix is about 15 to 17 months. In Tucson, the wait is roughly 10 to 18 months.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Citizenship Services declined to comment on the lawsuit. They say despite a recent spike in applications, the annual number of naturalizations has not fallen.
