was $5 million. As noted above, the Department of Justice released a March 2019 FY 2020 budget plan that cites a “staggering” increase in civil denaturalization referral, in a plea for additional resources to handle this “ever-increasing” load.305 The use of IEFA to fund denaturalizations is a further reflection of the existential shift taking place within USCIS from a service-oriented benefits agency to a well-resourced surrogate enforcement agency. Under the Trump administration, it takes an average of 10 months for USCIS to process the N-400 naturalization application form.306 This number has doubled in the last two years307 and does not include those waiting for other steps in the naturalization process, such as the citizenship interview and exam. In some cities, the application processing time alone takes over two years.308 It appears the increased delay is due to the administration’s stricter scrutiny of naturalization applications, as well as new measures making it more difficult to qualify and complete the process.309 THE PRICE OF AN INACCURATE BIRTH CERTIFICATE Ahmed Bafagih, a 31-year-old permanent resident since 2010, was denied U.S. citizenship. Acting in good faith, Bafagih told a USCIS officer that he was born in Kenya, not Yemen as appeared in his file. In fact, he was born in Kenya and moved to Yemen when he was 30 days old. This error likely would have gone unpunished under previous naturalization regimes. According to USCIS, he was denied naturalization on the grounds that there “was fraud in procurement of your Legal Permanent Resident status,” referring to an inaccurate birth certificate. Bafagih has three sisters who are U.S. citizens and his father has won several awards over his 25 years of service with the U.S. government, including with the Pentagon.310 72 UNMAKING AMERICANS