(WASHINGTON) -- Today, NumbersUSA praised an announcement Tuesday by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to change the naturalization process to complete background checks before citizenship interviews are scheduled, as the law already requires.

"This common-sense change in procedure is long overdue and much welcomed by Americans concerned about our national security and about the integrity of US citizenship," said NumbersUSA Executive Director Roy Beck. "I hope that USCIS will continue to enact much-needed policy changes that will result in an immigration system that will better serve America's national interests and security."

This announcement comes on the heels of Congressional testimony by whistleblower and former Director of the Office of Security and Investigations of USCIS, Michael Maxwell, indicating national security loopholes in the United States immigration system, including serious problems with background checks not being completed before applicants are awarded U.S. citizenship.

Current law requires immigration officers to obtain a definitive response from the FBI indicating that it has completed required background checks on naturalization applicants before those applicants may be scheduled to come in for an interview. Once the interview takes place, USCIS has 120 days during which it must decide whether to grant or deny the applicant U.S. citizenship.

Maxwell, whose office was responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by USCIS employees, was made aware last fall that immigration officers were scheduling the interviews before they received background check results from the FBI. When he brought this to the attention of the Acting Deputy Director of USCIS, he was informed that this was not a problem since the FBI results are returned to USCIS before the end of the 120-day window in 80 percent of all naturalization cases. The other 20 percent of cases in which FBI background check results took longer than 120 days after the interview, Maxwell was told, represented an "acceptable risk."

Naturalization applications not ruled on within the 120-day window leave USCIS open to legal challenges on those petitions, in some cases resulting in courts granting naturalization despite incomplete background checks. Yesterday's decision by USCIS to follow the letter of the law will help ensure that proper background checks are conducted, making it harder for terrorists, foreign intelligence agents, and criminals to circumvent the process through the courts.

Maxwell's revelations about misconduct and improper procedure at USCIS have also resulted in the agency's admission of rampant fraud as a means to game the immigration system. Maxwell is represented by NumbersUSA's Director of Government Relations, Rosemary Jenks.

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