Citizenship

Hundreds of Cubans lined up outside the Spanish Embassy in Havana as Spain began taking applications under a law that makes grandchildren of Spanish immigrants eligible for Spanish citizenship. Officials estimated that as many as 200,000 Cubans could seek a Spanish passport, and Spain has said 1 million people around the world could qualify to become Spaniards. A Spanish passport is prized by many Cubans who view it as a way to get off the island, which at least a million people have left since Fidel Castro took power in 1959.

California's Democratic senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would put some illegal immigrant farmworkers on a path to citizenship and revamp a little-used agricultural guest worker program. Flanked by Republican colleagues, immigrant advocates and a California pear grower, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer presented the bill as matter of survival for labor-strapped farmers across the country. "Today, many farmers are on a precipice," Feinstein said.

A judge Thursday blocked a law requiring landlords to verify the citizenship of potential tenants, a day before it was to go into effect in this Dallas suburb. A judge granted a temporary restraining order after a claim saying open-meetings laws were violated when the ordinance was approved and adopted. The measure, passed unanimously by the City Council in November, requires property managers or owners to verify renters' immigration or citizenship status. A hearing was set for Jan.

A Cuban militant pleaded not guilty in El Paso to charges he lied to federal investigators in a bid to become a U.S. citizen. Luis Posada Carriles, 78, was indicted Jan. 11. Posada, a former CIA operative and U.S. Army soldier, is also accused by Cuba and Venezuela of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people. Posada, a longtime opponent of Fidel Castro who trained for the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, is being held at a jail in New Mexico.

U.S. immigration authorities Wednesday proposed hefty fee hikes for citizenship and permanent residency applications, pledging to use the revenue to help shorten processing time and improve service. But the proposal, which would hike citizenship application fees from $330 to $595, drew immediate criticism that it would put citizenship out of reach for many poor immigrants. The plan also would increase overall fees for green cards, work permits and other benefits an average of 66%.

Re "Cost of U.S. citizenship likely to rise," Feb. 1 The federal government's new hike for residency and citizenship fees (66%) is not exactly the "give me your poor and huddled masses" plan. Anyone in that category, say like our grandparents and great-grandparents, would never have reached our shores. The Bush administration has a history of asking for money that disappears in the guise of grandiose projects and national security. If this $2-billion increase is managed by the incompetent political appointees whom we've seen before, we can kiss the money goodbye.

Immigrants who waited years for their citizenship applications to be processed because of lengthy security checks claimed in a lawsuit Thursday that the delays violated their constitutional rights. The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court against the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, seeks to enforce laws saying the government should make a decision on a citizenship application within 120 days of the applicant's interview.

At least 1.7 million Medi-Cal enrollees and all new applicants will have to show proof of citizenship and identity to renew or receive benefits under draft regulations developed by California health officials to meet a new federal law. State officials have worked for months to minimize the chances that eligible Medi-Cal enrollees will be dropped from the program, which provides health coverage to the state's poor and disabled people.

A broadly representative elite of Israel's Arab minority has rejected the idea of Israel as a Jewish state and demanded a partnership in governing the country to ensure that Arab citizens get equal treatment and more control over their communities. In a manifesto that is stirring anger and soul-searching among Jews, Arab leaders have declared that Israel's 1.4 million Arab citizens are an indigenous group with collective rights, not just individual rights.

Citizenship applications are skyrocketing in Southern California and across the nation, as green card holders rush to avoid a proposed fee increase, a revised civics test and possible changes in immigration law. Applications filed in Los Angeles and six surrounding counties shot to 18,024 in January from 7,334 in the same month last year, a 146% increase, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Nationwide, the number hit 95,622, up from 53,390, a 79% increase.