AGONY AND ECSTASY; SOME BECOME CITIZENS, WHILE OTHERS MUST WAIT.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

Wiping away tears and waving a flag, Genevene Noriega reveled Thursday at the Los Angeles Convention Center with 6,000 others who share a new-found status - American citizen.

Three miles away, in the heat of the day, Maria Mendoza also shed tears - frustrated by the delays to become a citizen.

``It has been more than a year and still there is no progress,'' said Mendoza, standing outside the downtown offices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ``They told us it would be six months, and still we must wait.''

Even as a record number of people are being sworn in as naturalized citizens in monthly ceremonies, delays in the processing of applications have ballooned to 13 months in some cases, creating a backlog of 290,000 applications in Los Angeles alone.

The issue has become critical for many because of the looming deadline for the cutoff of government support.

INS officials - under attack for finalizing applications without waiting for the results of FBI background checks - say solving the problem is like trying to fix a moving freight train.

As many as 1,000 new citizenship requests come in every month.

``We recognize the problem and are doing all we can to get back to the six-month processing period,'' INS Regional Director Richard Rogers said. ``It's been frustrating for everyone, but with the new requirements, it's resulted in delays, and we are trying to automate the procedure so it will be speeded up for everyone.''

Noriega was among the lucky ones. The Los Angeles woman, who emigrated from Mexico, submitted her application six months ago, and on Thursday found herself taking the oath of citizenship.

``I'm just very happy; this is something I've wanted for a long time,'' Noriega said.

Mendoza, an immigrant from Mexico who filed her application early last year, is still waiting.

She joined in a protest outside the INS office Thursday that was organized by groups affiliated with the Industrial Area Foundation, a coalition of community groups that has been active in organizing citizenship drives.

Several people got a chance to vent their concerns on Rogers directly.

Organizers of the protest say that for those seeking citizenship, delays in their applications being processed are critical because of the coming August deadline that cuts off government support to legal immigrants as a result of welfare reform.

Among those expected to be hardest hit are those with children and the elderly.

Cecilia Barragan of Valley Organized in Community Efforts and Eloisa Rivera of the United Neighborhood Organization said they understand the impact the volume of applications being introduced is having on the INS but believe more could be done to process them.

``Everyone has paid $95 for the processing fee to cover the costs,'' Barragan said. ``We don't believe it costs that much, and the INS is using that money for other programs.''

Rogers denied that, saying the funds are kept in a special account and there are prohibitions against using them for other INS functions.

Part of the problem the INS is facing, he said, is uncertain federal funding for the 250 workers he has been able to hire to help in the processing of applications. He is trying to form independent teams to better process fingerprinting of prospective citizens.

Barragan said she believes the agency has become too bogged down in the background checks.

``Out of 260,000 applications, only 10 or 15 were people with problems,'' she said. ``They shouldn't hold up all the other applications because of the fears of a few right-wingers.''

In April, the Justice Department opened an inquiry into the INS Citizenship USA program of 1995, which saw citizenship granted to some 1 million people, but with 11,000 of them turning out to have criminal records that should have barred them from becoming Americans.

As a result, the agency put in new procedures requiring fingerprinting of all applicants. The prints are sent to the FBI for processing and then returned to the INS, resulting in the backlog.

FBI officials have estimated it takes them about 50 days to check the fingerprints, and the bureau plans to hire 1,100 examiners over the next year.

For some of the elderly and severely disabled applicants, providing clear fingerprints is a difficult task.

Leslie Abrams, owner of Identification Service Center in North Hollywood, said the INS needs to make special exceptions for people with mental and physical disabilities.

As a designated center approved by the INS, Abrams' business has fingerprinted about 500 elderly in the last six months - most of them dependent on Supplemental Security Income - for their citizenship applications. About 10 percent to 15 percent of those applications have been returned, rejected by the FBI because of unclear fingerprints.

``I do a lot of in-home, homebound people,'' Abrams said. ``That's where we are having the problem. If the person can't cooperate, if they have contracted fingers, it's hard to fingerprint them. The ones I feel are special cases, I write a note with the application.''

The applications with the fingerprint charts are sent to the INS. The prints are forwarded to the FBI.

``Somewhere in between the FBI and the INS, there is someone not listening to the cry of these special-circumstance people,'' Abrams said. ``Now, rejected fingerprints are holding up the process.

``All these people are applying because they are going to be losing their SSI benefits if they don't become citizens.''

Rogers said he understands the concern in the community and is trying to alert people to INS efforts to speed the process.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Arnulfo Martinez, 46, of Pacoima joins in a protest Thursday at the INS office in downtown Los Angeles.

(2) Wai Cheung Willson Chow, 32, and his mother, Jannet Shum, 63, happily wave American flags as they participate in the naturalization ceremony at the convention center.

Tina Gerson/Daily News