…for the Immigration Policy Center…
Those victims of persecution fortunate enough to make it to the United States and successfully run the legal gauntlet required to prove they merit asylum from their persecutors find themselves in a Kafkaesque predicament. U.S. immigration law provides that individuals granted asylum must wait only one year to become lawful permanent residents. However, an arbitrary limit on the number of asylees who are in fact allowed to do so each year, combined with mismanagement of the entire process by federal immigration authorities, has created a situation in which asylees must wait at least 12 years to become permanent residents – and 4 more years to become U.S. citizens…
