Rose Hernandez was quoted in the Washington Post regarding a lawsuit filed yesterday against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency for failure to comply with Freedom of Information Act rules and provide copies of immigration records in a timely manner. Rose is the attorney for two of the plaintiffs in the case. The lawsuit was filed by the Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin in Los Angeles as well as attorneys for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, the National Immigration Project and the American Immigration Council.
Rose says, “It is unfair that USCIS has immediate access to CBP records for their adjudication purposes but we must wait more than one year to get the same information. This makes it very difficult for me to do my job. I feel like I am flying blind because CBP provides information very quickly to the Immigration Service and consulates but not to us. The deck is stacked against families applying for permanent residence in the first place. My clients are good people with U.S. citizen spouses and children, and they deserve permanent residence yesterday.”