Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy on Thursday highlighted a backlog in naturalization processing as the nation prepared to hold citizenship ceremonies tied to Independence Day.

Latino and Asian groups joined in, saying that oaths of allegiance aren't being recited often enough. At issue is the unprecedented surge in U.S. citizenship applications, which has applicants waiting more than twice as long for approval.

"The backlogs of applications are inexcusable and unnecessary roadblocks in the path to citizenship," said Melissa Wagoner, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts senator.

In the Dallas office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, spokeswoman Maria Elena García Upson defended the agency. "We anticipate naturalizing more people than we did last fiscal year by the end of the week," she said.

That would mean the government minted as many new citizens in nine months as it did in the previous 12.

Despite this, the backlog continues. According to the USCIS, the Dallas office was working in mid-June on naturalization petitions filed 11 months earlier. Other offices take as long as 14 months.

Karen Narasaki, executive director of the Asian American Justice Center, said regional differences are frustrating. "Given that we also have a momentous election coming up, it is just entirely un-American to have people who applied a year ago not sure that they will get their citizenship in time to vote," she said.

State Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, the chairman of the educational fund of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, was equally critical. "NALEO has been very disappointed that the backlog is so substantial and has been calling on Congress to direct more money at CIS."

Antonio Reyes is relieved to have made it to the finish line. Mr. Reyes, a 61-year-old Farmers Branch resident and native of La Pascuala, Mexico, found out this week he'll be taking the citizenship oath next week. It took 12 months.