INS Takes Political Heat

THE DAILY FED

INS Takes Political Heat

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is facing two congressional hearings this week scrutinizing its drive to naturalize a million immigrants before the 1996 election, The Washington Post reported today.

INS Commissioner Doris M. Meissner said the Citizenship USA program was designed to eliminate a backlog of 800,000 applications for citizenship and reduce application processing time, which was taking up to two years.

Critics say the initiative was a product of White House pressure to rush the naturalization process, allowing 180,000 people to be naturalized without a criminal background check.