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Immigration center likely to add 100 jobs

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BY ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 12:23:19 am CDT

A bigger budget and heavy demand for immigration services are contributing to ambitious hiring plans at the regional service center for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Lincoln.

The preliminary outlook calls for as many as 100 new employees after Oct. 1 at salaries as high as $55,000, center Director Jerry Heinauer said Wednesday.

Heinauer said he didn’t have a final commitment to a specific number yet from his bosses in Washington, D.C. But he’s expecting what he described as “a big increase” from current staffing of 430 at the new center headquarters near the Lincoln Airport and from authorized staffing of 474.

Marilu Cabrera, regional spokeswoman for the agency in Chicago, said the tentative outlook for the next fiscal year is about 570.

Some 25 years ago, the total immigration staff housed in the downtown Lincoln federal building was about 40, Heinauer said. As recently as January 2005, the federal agency’s Lincoln employment was 323.

Lincoln is the third largest of the four regional offices, in terms of total employees.

The other service centers are located in Vermont, Texas and California. They are also in line for a major hiring push.

A new schedule of higher fees, aimed at covering all of the agency’s costs, takes effect July 30.

That connects to a variety of new service goals, including reducing processing time for four major types of immigrant applications, including citizenship naturalizations, from six months to four months.

“Hiring new employees is part of that goal,” Cabrera said.

She expects applicants to try to act ahead of the new fees. “I think we will definitely see an increase before it goes up, an increase in people applying.”

Heinauer said job descriptions of “application adjudicator” and “adjudication officer” are likely to be among the most in need of candidates for a bigger staff.

Pay ranges on the civil service schedule are likely to be all the way from $25,000 to $55,000, he said.

Some of the jobs will be targeted at people who already work for the agency. Others are likely to carry a preference for military veterans.

Hirings “won’t happen all at once,” Cabrera said. “But, as part of our fee increase, those are some of our goals.”

Reach Art Hovey at 523-4949 or at ahovey@alltel.net.


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whatever wrote on May 31, 2007 5:44 am:
" Here they come Lincoln! "
Lars wrote on May 31, 2007 8:11 am:
" Immigration is Lincoln's growth industry? "
james wrote on May 31, 2007 8:26 am:
" here what come? good-paying jobs? "
Lee wrote on May 31, 2007 8:49 am:
" Stick to your guns, Bishop! Many more than the 1,000 petitioners against you are with you. CTA members, you are free to worship (or whatever it is you do) at any other church -- so leave mine alone! "
ted wrote on May 31, 2007 8:56 am:
" I work near this center and there will be no parking for more employees. They need to move this center out of the Haymarket. "
USA wrote on May 31, 2007 9:26 am:
" Ya this is what Lincoln needs. Now we need to hire more cops................. "
Great news wrote on May 31, 2007 10:13 am:
" This center is not located in the Haymarket, that is the old building....if you would read the article, the new building is located near the airport along Cornhusker Hwy. The people doing these jobs are a valuable service to our country, they are the ones that keep the terrorists and other "no good" aliens out of the county. Most are also verterans of armed services. How can anyone complain about a center expanding, providing well paid jobs and doing all of us an important favor in their day to day work. "
Crapped on again wrote on May 31, 2007 10:14 am:
" I'm sure glad we can find high paying jobs for the immigrants, because Lincoln sure can't take care of its American Citizens. I'm sure glad Lincoln is proud of itself being 3rd highest on the list. Lincoln sure knows how to run its citizens out of town and state. I agree you better hire more cops at the expense of the taxpayers of course. And they wonder why people have such a bad attitude and the young ones leave the state!!! Won't be long til Lincoln will look like Lexington!! "
Sean1 wrote on May 31, 2007 10:23 am:
" Whatever: Yep, the barbarians are at the gates. At least they're at the gate and not trying to crawl under it. "
Brand wrote on May 31, 2007 11:51 am:
" They wouldn't need so many new jobs if they wouldn't flood our country immigrants. Replacement level immigation is what this country needs... not immigration reform. Over 200k permanetly leave this country every year. Allow that many immigrants to come in and this country wouldn't be bursting at the seams. These people need to bloom where they are planted and it is our responsibilty to help them... not bring them here and ruin our infrastructure. "
Josh wrote on May 31, 2007 12:44 pm:
" This is in resonse to Crapped on Again- Um, if you re-read the article you will see these are not jobs for immigrants, it's jobs at the immigration service biulding here in Lincoln. And the 3rd highest thing means that Lincoln's center is the 3rd largest in total number of employees out of the 4 regional centers in the U.S. If I am understanding correctly, you have to be a US citizen to work there (not just a legal resident), so this is a great example of American citizens in Lincoln getting the benefit of some decent paying jobs. "
Earl wrote on May 31, 2007 12:50 pm:
" Immigration employees, not immigrants, people. Most of these workers are U.S citizens. They are helping deal with backlogs of immigration applications to keep the bad ones out and the let the good ones in, quite effectively I might add. "
Jeremy wrote on May 31, 2007 12:57 pm:
" Crapped on again these jobs are not for immigrants. It is a job processing paperwork for immigrants. I would imagine since this is a government job you would have to be a U. S. citizen to even apply. "
Lindsay wrote on May 31, 2007 2:35 pm:
" I'm glad my British born fiancee, who we recently sent an application to this center for, and I aren't coming back to Nebraska to settle with the attitude of the locals. I'm embarrassed to call this place home sometimes. And for "crapped on again" are you a imbecile? You certainly didn't read the article... "
Fred Register wrote on May 31, 2007 3:13 pm:
" Bursting at the seams?? Good lord do the words "population density" mean nothing? How the heck MORE empty do you think the country in general and Nebraska in particular need to be? And am I the only one who read this article, which is nothing at all to do with immigrants working here, but more people dealing with the paperwork of immigration applications doing so? What is it about this issue that makes reason and facts fly out the window? "
Brand wrote on May 31, 2007 4:45 pm:
" No offense Fred Register but you are blind to the whole truth. The immigrants we let in today will have 2 or more children tomorrow. Nebraska may have lots of open space now. But I want there to be parks and rivers and lakes for my children. I also know that this article is not about the immigrants we are letting in... it is about the hiring of workers to keep track of the immigrants we let in. I think if we hire anyone it should be for border security. EVERYONE should watch this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWJeqxuOfQ take ten minutes out of your life and watch it. Watch it and then see how you feel about the new immigration reform. "
I love it when idiots post things wrote on May 31, 2007 5:23 pm:
" Try reading the article before you blow off your mouth! "
whatever wrote on May 31, 2007 5:59 pm:
" What's your point "....idiot....."? The immigrants will follow the "paper". Most Lincolnites are fairly naive' regarding the immigration issue. Time will educate you all. "
think please wrote on May 31, 2007 6:33 pm:
" read AND think please before you show your ignorance. it is a regional center for processing applications it does not mean it employs immigrants, the immigrants whose applications are processed do not all live in or remain in Nebraska (let alone Lincoln) and get off your holier than thou attitudes-- unless you are a Native American YOU to are the product of an immigrant "
nemo wrote on May 31, 2007 8:57 pm:
" and even " Native Americans" didn't just appear here, they also immigrated. sheesh, sounds like good business to me, hiring vets. "
Dave K wrote on May 31, 2007 11:45 pm:
" Jobs created by taxpayer money -- sounds counterproductive. "
Nebraska = DtaD wrote on June 1, 2007 9:33 am:
" You silly fools, they are processing paper there! They are strict about their hiring! My son tried to get a job there and they wouldnt hire because of an MIP on his record! Homeland Security at work? "
correct info wrote on June 1, 2007 10:37 am:
" 1. You must be a citizen to work for the Federal Govt. 2. The applications they are processing include foreign adoptions and visas for people with highly technical skills that not enough US citizens possess. 3. These people are doing a necessary job to maintain political and economic stability in the US 4. Your tax dollars spent on salaries will go back into YOUR community because local people are receiving the salaries. I was in a head on collision in the bahamas where taxes aren't reliably collected which meant we had to pay off the police and the drunk man who hit us was left on the side of the road because there are no ambulance services. Is that the kind of society ya'll who hate taxes want to live in? "
Watcher wrote on June 1, 2007 12:12 pm:
" " Jobs created by taxpayer money -- sounds counterproductive. " Please tell that to Halliburton, Boeing, etc. "
Fred Register wrote on June 1, 2007 1:17 pm:
" No offense brand but you're a fearmonger with no grasp of demographics. The only reason our population is not declining is because of immigration. We are already facing a projected severe worker shortage in the next twenty years just as the boomers start collecting trillions in Social Security. Our birth rate is not high enough to sustain our population without immigration. We NEED those immigrants to have two or more kids just to keep up. US population density is a mere fraction of that of most other industrialized nations, and they all manage to have rivers and parks and lakes. Take Switzerland for example - one of the most beautiful places on earth with stunning mountains and forests, several large lakes. To equal Swiss population density we'd need to import seventy five MILLION immigrants. Or famously green and scenic Ireland with its recent economic miracle growth - we'd need to have almost two TIMES our current population to be as densely populated. Look at the UK or Germany and it's even higher. So to worry about the immigration that is the only thing that will keep our economy intact and will do absolutely nothing that could be considered even in the same realm as causing overcrowding is not only misguided but downright harmful. All the "it's different now" corwd needs to look back at the EXACTY same alarmist xenophobic crap that greeted Italian and Irish and German etc etc immigration a hundred years ago or more. That was going to end society and cause an overcrowded hellhole full of filthy foreign criminals who spoke no English and were just going to be a drain on the good old natives too. Turned out OK. So will the largely hispanic immigration of today, because not only is it no different, but it's just as necessary as the earlier waves of immigration were. "

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