Citizenship process backed up

Betsy Camacho has been working to improve her English and learning civics and history so she can become a U.S. citizen in time to vote in the 2008 presidential election.

But she might not be processed in time - even though the election is a year away.

Camacho and millions of others who applied for naturalization and other immigration benefits just before a midsummer fee increase are caught in an application pileup. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is months behind schedule in returning receipts for checks written to cover fees.

"Everybody keeps saying immigrants don't want to be part of this country, they don't want to assimilate, and here people are coming in droves to show how much they want to be part of this country, and here are these barriers," said Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of Service Employees International Union. "I think it's unconscionable."