FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         JMD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1996                        (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                               INS (202) 514-2648
             DOJ and INS Announce New Initiatives 
            To Improve U.S. Naturalization Process
                                
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department (DOJ) and the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) today announced the
implementation of a series of initiatives to improve and
strengthen the U.S. naturalization program.

     The initiatives include:  

     *    Implementation after November 29, of additional
          procedures to strengthen the current citizenship
          process, including an expanded effort to ensure that no
          individual is naturalized without the verified
          completion of a fingerprint check by the Federal Bureau
          of Investigation (FBI); 

     *    Hiring by DOJ of an independent management consulting
          and accounting firm, KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, to oversee
          an INS audit of naturalization cases from September
          1995 through December 1996.  The audit will also be
          monitored by the Justice Department's Office of the
          Inspector General (OIG); and

     *    Comprehensive re-engineering of the naturalization
          program by INS and an outside consulting group, which
          will begin in the coming months. 

     INS Commissioner Doris Meissner said, "These efforts will
further tighten our process for determining that every applicant
meets the legal and administrative requirements for citizenship. 
INS is taking a series of steps -- including a method for
verifying that FBI fingerprint checks have been completed and a
standardized, Service-wide quality assurance program -- to ensure
that Citizenship USA continues to enhance the integrity of the
nation's citizenship process."

     INS created a naturalization initiative, Citizenship USA, in
August 1995 following bi-partisan requests to address an
unprecedented increase in the number of applicants for
citizenship.  INS initially focused its efforts in the five
cities which accounted for 75% of all citizenship applications --
Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco.  In FY
1996, more than 1.3 million applications were processed through
the program.

     Among the initiatives announced today is a new procedure,
developed jointly by INS and the FBI, to ensure that no applicant
can be naturalized before the FBI has finished checking its
databases for information used by INS to determine if the
applicant is eligible for citizenship.  With the new procedure,
INS will verify definitively that each applicant's FBI check has
been completed before the applicant is scheduled for a
naturalization interview. 
 
     INS has instituted a series of additional Service-wide
quality assurance steps to ensure that all procedures are being
consistently followed throughout the naturalization process in
all INS offices.  These steps, which will be expanded pending the
findings of the FY 1996 review, include:

     *    The use of a standardized worksheet to document that
          all clerical processing and statutory eligibility
          determinations have been completed; 

     *    Mandatory supervisory review of every case involving a
          criminal history or other serious question of good
          moral character; and

     *    Random quality assurance reviews in every office,
          conducted by knowledgeable INS officers who are not
          directly involved in the naturalization program.

     Under the terms of a contract approved November 18, KPMG
will independently certify the procedures developed and
implemented by INS to review naturalization cases from September
1995 through December 1996.  In addition, the firm will monitor
the audit of case files and verify the integrity of the INS
review.  

     The review will be conducted at the INS Nebraska Service
Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.  OIG will receive copies of all
information generated by the review and will monitor the audit
closely.  OIG expects to initiate other reviews of the
naturalization program as it deems appropriate.

     In the coming months, the Justice Department will select an
expert consulting firm to work with INS to re-engineer the
naturalization process.  The effort will build on the
improvements and independent reviews currently underway and will
be conducted in conjunction with DOJ, the OIG, the FBI, INS
headquarters and field personnel and outside consultants.
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96-577