The president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, Kenneth Palinkas, complains that the administration is pressuring officers to "grant immigration benefits to those who, under the law, are not properly eligible." Approval quotas have been placed upon them to grant citizenship to ever increasing numbers of applicants while they have not been given the resources to properly investigate their backgrounds. They complain of a management culture that sees illegal immigrants and foreign nationals as the customer rather than taxpaying U.S. citizens. While the officers treat all with equal respect, they feel their emphasis should be on protecting the citizens of the United States.

The National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council is the union which represents the 12,000 employees who administer the citizenship process. Now, as a union president, Mr. Palinkas naturally will always feel that they need more employees and resources but the portrayal of the administration as pushing for an express lane for granting citizenship is entirely consistent with its past behavior. From the clamor for "comprehensive immigration reform" ( translation: amnesty ) to granting special approval for an immigration rally in the National Mall during the partial government shutdown, the administration has shown a strategy aimed at creating a new pool of future Democratic voters.

Oblivious to the dangers of a lax immigration process (remember the Tsarnaev brothers ) the administration plows recklessly ahead in its quest to trivialize citizenship. They look upon U.S. citizenship not as a privilege, but as a political convenience.

Keith writes from Burbank, California and can be contacted at victorakeith.com