U.S. to Skirt Green-Card Check

The decision "just seems like a very logical way to get people who deserve benefits in a very fair and timely manner without compromising national security or the integrity of the immigration system," Bentley said.

The change does not apply to citizenship applicants because green-card holders are more easily deported, whereas "revoking naturalization is a much more difficult thing to do," he said.

Representatives of the American Immigration Law Foundation, the ACLU and other immigrant advocates hailed the change. But they questioned why it excludes citizenship applicants, when they must have lived in the United States at least three years after becoming permanent residents.

"If they really believe people pose some risk to the United States, why would they want folks inside, waiting years and years to complete the same name check?" asked Karen Tumlin of the National Immigration Law Center.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chairman of a House Judiciary immigration subcommittee, said beneficiaries of the change are already living in the United States and often are married to Americans. "The card has no impact at all on security, but it may have some impact in a positive way on their lives," she said. "It's not very hard to take away the green-card status if there's an error."

Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Calif.), who seeks tighter U.S. immigration controls, objected. "Do they revoke them if they blow up something?" he asked. "There is a reason why the system was put in to do these checks, and it's national security. It's scary that we've reached a point where we're waiving that national security requirement because the bureaucracy is not responding."

Congress has approved more money to speed the FBI name checks. Gregory Smith, head of the USCIS office that coordinates name checks with the FBI, said in an e-mail to his FBI counterpart that his agency will prioritize "a significant percentage" of $20 million in new funding to expedite naturalization cases -- such as hiring 221 FBI contractors -- but "existing resources should not be diverted" from green-card checks.

The USCIS memo and Smith's e-mail were filed by the government last Wednesday in a pending case brought by immigrants before U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. The memo was first reported Sunday by McClatchy Newspapers.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.