35. youth groups, ROTC units, as well as boy or girl scout color guards; and Where feasible, offices should contact local media groups for coverage of the ceremony. ogging Due to increasing fiscal restraints on district offices, it is necessary to seek alternative and cheaper ways of performing naturalization ceremonies. One way of addressing the lack of financial Yesources is for field offices to seek out local businesses to sponsor the ceremonies. The ceremonies should be tasteful and maintain the dignity of the occasion. Off-site facilities, provided by local businesses, can serve as appropriate ceremonial rooms. Although a business may choose to donate items such as food and drinks as part of the sponsorship of the ceremony, logos and other items identifying the sponsoring business should not be the theme of the ceremony. Rather than focusing on the products or services a company produces, some corporate sponsors have chosen to stress the importance of the work of immigrants to their companies' success and more importantly, the role immigrant labor has played in the United States. While corporate sponsorship may be sought for naturalization ceremonies, the sponsorship of the event should focus on the importance of conveying citizenship. For additional guidelines, please refer to attachment 3 for a list of oath ceremony “best practices" used in other offices. (C) Same-Day Naturalization Ceremonies Where INS has the authority to conduct administrative ceremonies, field offices are encouraged to conduct expedited, small naturalization ceremonies at the option of applicants for naturalization. Based upon reports from field offices, this process can also be successfully implemented for judicial ceremonies. While coordinating same-day ceremonies for administrative naturalization ceremonies will involve no coordination with other agencies, judicial naturalization ceremonies will require additional preparation by field officers to plan the ceremonies in coordination with the courts. Field offices are encouraged to develop work schedules to facilitate same-day ceremonies.. Interviews may be conducted during one part of the day, such as the morning, and the ceremony conducted later that same day. In addition, offices can provide applicants with a notice, offering them the option to be naturalized the same day of the interview, upon approval of the application, or to be scheduled for an oath ceremony at a later time when they can bring family members and guests. Accommodations should be set aside to allow for an expedited ceremony. 1-004304 (D) Expedited administration of oath of allegiance. 35. A district office may administer the oath without a ceremony when an applicant requests such due to emergent or other compelling circumstances as prescribed in 8 CFR 337.3. Part IV. Oath Ceremonies No. 2 Attachment 35. Oath Ceremony Speech Welcome to you all. It is an honor and a privilege to welcome you as citizens of the United States. By your oath of allegiance to the United States, you no longer have political ties with your former country of citizenship. Your allegiance is now exclusively to the United States. In return for the benefits you are given within this great land, we are entitled to your solemn word that you will support our Constitution and laws and defend us against our enemies if that need should arise. Of course, this does not mean you should forget your native land, your friends, or family members abroad. This nation has grown and flourished through the preservation of cultural traditions such as the music, dress and food of your homelands. Your heritage is part of your contribution to this great country. This nation is composed of the strengths of many nations and cultures. Each contributes the special skills and knowledge that has been acquired through the centuries. Each of you brings a special talent, a talent which, through hard work and dedication, will not only strengthen this nation but provide you with success and achievement. Our Constitution provides you with the opportunity to pursue your aspirations on an equal basis with all other Americans. This country promises you equality of opportunity, but it can not promise you wealth or wisdom. It promises you the pursuit of happiness, but it can not promise happiness. It promise you liberty but it cannot guarantee peace, only the opportunity to work with us to secure that peace. We, as a people, have made mistakes in the past and we will undoubtedly make errors in the future. But through good times and bad, this is a country of law. Our constitution is a splendid document which continues to provide protection of property, liberty, life, social justice and personal freedom for every individual more than any other society in recorded history. In short, you are now among us to share in our successes and our failures in good times as well as bad times. You are joining the great family of citizens enjoying the cherished principles of freedom. Being convinced that you will make good citizens, we your fellow citizens by birth and by choice, enthusiastically welcome you as citizens of the United States of America. Attention: Andrea Oparantillo Government Law 36. ISSUE PRESENTED Can the INS use volunteers to perform certain services when the (1) the No. While the use of volunteers who agree in advance not to receive payment does not violate the Anti-Deficiency Act, it generally constitutes an unauthorized augmentation of the agency appropriation. Where, as here, the volunteers would perform duties normally performed by agency employees, it is impermissible. Therefore, the Agency cannot use these volunteers to perform these clerical duties. DISCUSSION We reviewed a proposal from a district office concerning the use of volunteers. In short, the district asked if it could use volunteers to perform clerical duties related to their naturalization efforts. We offer the following analysis. A The INS Cannot Use Volunteers When the Volunteers Perform Duties That Generally, a government agency may not operate at a capacity greater than the level that Congress authorizes. 70 Comp. Gen. 597 (1991). This means that an agency may not accept goods or services to augment the personel or funds that Congress has already provided iz' Id. at 598. For example, in 1987 WL 101336 (C.G.), an agency attempted to use volunteers to perform duties that other agency personnel normally performed. Id. at 3. The Comptroller General held that this was an improper augmentation because, under this proposed arrangement, the agency could use compensated employees whose work functions the volunteers were going to perform to fill additional duries. Id. In 70 Comp. Gen. 597 (1991), on the other hand, the Interstate Commerce Commission (“ICC") accepted the free installation of computer equipment from various private carriers. The carriers installed the equipment in order to assist the ICC in its tariff-monitoring duties. Id at 598. Because the ICC had specific statutory authority to establish the manner in which private carriers filed tariffs, the Comptroller General found the acceptance of the voluntary services and equipment proper. Id. However, the decision also notes that if the ICC used the equipment for any other purpose, the acceptance of these services would become an unauthorized augmentation." Id. at 600. = Following the same analysis, the INS cannot use the vohmteers to perform clerical tasks where, as in 1987 WL 101336, agency employees are already responsible for performing these tasks. See 1987 WL at 3. Furthermore, the proposed use of volunteers here is distinguishable from 70 Comp. Gen. 597 in that the INS, unlike the ICC, does not have the statutory authority to decide how the Agency can meet its clerical demands. See 70 Comp. Gen. at 598. Thus, the Agency's use of volunteers is an unauthorized augmentation B. If The Use Of The Volunteers Is Not An Improper Augmentation, The INS Can Under the Anti-Deficiency Act ("Act"), a government agency cannot accept voluntary services unless a party randers services in an emergency sinuation. 31 US.C. § 1342 (1994). Congress enacted this prohibition because it did not want parties to volunteer services to the Government, then present bills that could morally obligate Congress to compensate them. 1982 WL 27133 (C.G.). However, as an exception to this general bar, the Comptroller General has held that an agency may accept voluntary · services if (1) prior to the rendering of services, each volunteer agrees that the 36. 1 Under earlier decisional law, the Comptroller General evaluated the Government's use of voluntary 3 Tas vakumisers were members of a state "workfare” program. 1987 WL 101336 (C.G.) #2. The decision did not specify what these duties included. See id at 3. 3 The Comptroller General further advised that the ICC implement office procedures that would prevent the use of this equipment for word processing and other unserthorized purposes. 70 Comp. Gan, si 600. |