WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) wrote to Ken Cuccinelli, the senior official performing the duties of the director at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), demanding USCIS answer whether the actions taken in the Lucio Delgado case were consistent with USCIS policies and provide detailed descriptions of the agency’s guidance and resources related to individuals with disabilities. According to reports, last week USCIS failed to provide Mr. Delgado—a blind man who is a legal permanent resident living in Illinois—with a Braille test, which was part of his request for the reasonable accommodations required by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As a result, he failed his citizenship test, despite passing the portions of the citizenship exam that did not require vision to complete.
“U.S. law protects naturalization applicants from discrimination. For decades, civil rights law has helped both citizens and non-citizens with disabilities access federal resources to live healthy and productive lives,” wrote the Senators. “In 2018, USCIS itself committed to making the reading test available in Braille. But it appears that the agency is violating its own policy.
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“USCIS must ensure all individuals with visible and invisible disabilities are provided with appropriate accommodations,” continued the Senators. “We urge you to update policies, procedures and guidance to make sure policies on providing reasonable accommodations are consistent with all applicable federal laws and regulations and avoid offensive and unreasonable "certifications" of disabilities.”
Last February, Duckworth wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of the Inspector General demanding an independent investigation after reports that ICE agents at a Texas detention center deprived a man of his prosthetic limbs for more than five months.
The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
A full copy of the letter is available below and online here.
