'The Last Nail in the Coffin': How USCIS Financial Problems Destroy US Immigration

Kenneth Palinkas commutes every week from his home in Queens to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Federal Plaza in New York. He carries with him a suitcase full of green card applications and status adjustments, which he reviews and makes decisions at home, writes Documented New York.

One of the regional offices of USCIS. Photo: Shutterstock

Palinkas is one of 20 USCIS employees who process, adjudicate, review and interview thousands of immigrants of varying status. These people seek legal residency in the United States, want to vote, reunite with family, seek asylum, or work in the United States. Since March 000, when the USCIS office in New York was closed, Palinkas and his staff have been coming to the city to pick up their cases and work on them remotely.

Soon, however, Palinkas will no longer need to lug around a suitcase full of applications. He is one of 13 USCIS employees who received advance notice of leave without pay, effective August 400, 3. It is planned to last for a minimum of 2020 and a maximum of 30 days.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was formed in 2003, along with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the United States Border Patrol (CBP). Unlike other federal agencies, USCIS is a paid organization funded by immigration applications and petition fees. The coronavirus pandemic and "the administration's suspension of entry of immigrants posing a risk to the US labor market," USCIS estimates, have reduced applications and fees by 61%.

Palinkas, who is executive vice president of the American Federation of Government Officials (AFGE) National Citizenship and Immigration Council and who has been with USCIS since the service was formed in 2003, believes the agency was not damaged by the pandemic, but by previous policy decisions. which restricted legal immigration.

“Four months of a pandemic cannot do this. We have always been in a good financial position. This is an election year. This is always the time when naturalization increases. People want to exercise their right to vote, especially in an election as controversial as these,” Palinkas shared his opinion. He estimates the number of calls has dropped by 25%, the largest decrease since the start of the pandemic.

USCIS predicted budget deficit

Sharwari Dalal-Dani, a 10-year former USCIS employee and current director of government relations with the American Immigrant Lawyers Association (AILA), said the agency had predicted significant financial problems back in November, before COVID-19 emerged.

“It is up to them to correct this situation and they must be responsible and manage their policies and processes more effectively,” Dalal-Deney said.

Furloughing employees as an austerity tactic is not uncommon; however, such leave is administrative, meaning it is planned and designed by the federal government. Workers will need an act of Congress to receive compensation. In an AFGE press conference, local President Nicole Hess said many of her employees are preparing to withdraw their retirement savings and/or have requested permission to work elsewhere during the furlough.

“People are really worried. USCIS employees plan to get jobs at Uber, DoorDash, will clean houses and look after children,” Hess said. These are jobs that typically employ immigrants.

On the subject: USCIS announced a large-scale delay in the issuance of green cards and work permits

Members of the House of Representatives Jeffrey Fortenberry of Nebraska and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri have presented a bill (HR 7508) that will provide the agency with additional funding of $ 1,2 billion. However, the bill also provides for a 10% application premium to offset the financial burden on immigrants, who are often already in a difficult financial situation. The application and processing fees for a green card average $ 1000, $ 946 for an H-1B visa, and over $ 2000 for a bride or groom visa.

Dalal-Deney notes that this surcharge is not the first time that USCIS has tried to “shift its own inefficiencies onto clients rather than look inward and try to fix its own unsustainable structure.”

USCIS is in the process of finalizing a new payment rule that, if approved, will increase some filing and petition fees by more than 80%, Dalal-Dani explained. This will be in addition to the 10 percent surcharge if the act is passed.

Since 2003, the federal government has spent approximately $ 381 billion on immigration enforcement agencies. USCIS has an annual budget of $ 4,8 billion.

"The last nail in the coffin of the immigration system"

AFGE members plan to travel to Washington, DC as a union to speak with members of Congress ahead of the late July vote. The National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) wrote a letter in support of USCIS and against unpaid leave.

“USCIS plays an important role in many of our cases in terms of our ability to render case decisions in a timely manner,” NAIJ President Ashley Tabaddor said in a telephone interview. “These applications and petitions will not disappear simply because the people processing them will be on vacation. Everything will stay and just keep piling up.”

Tabaddor cited thousands of unaccompanied minors as an example of a population that would be hit hard by USCIS employee vacations. The cases of children who have the right to have their asylum application heard first will be added to the already overwhelming number of cases.

Dalal-Dani is worried not only about the livelihood of his former USCIS colleague, but also about the disproportionate number of USCIS staff in the court decisions department who have received vacation notices.

“1500 of the Refugees, Asylum and International Operations Division's 2000 staff have received advance notice, a higher proportion of staff than in some other departments. The question now is whether the agency's priority is its stated statutory mission of providing immigration services, or whether it is supporting ICE and CBP and trying to become a third law enforcement agency,” Dalal-Deney explained.

Despite concerns about the implications for immigrants, business owners and immigration-related employees, Daniel Spooner, president of the CIS Council, believes the bill will be passed.

“The bill is basically asking the government to give us back the money they took through immigration bans,” Spooner explained.

On the subject: WP: how the Trump administration turns legal immigrants into illegal

If the bill is not passed, then the complete reduction of USCIS staff to 25% will affect all immigration procedures, leaving immigrants with unfinished business with little or no confidence in where and how to live.

“This is the final nail in the coffin of the immigration system,” Dalal-Deney said. “Yes, the furloughs will hurt employees and practices, but it will also impact American families, businesses and individuals who are here and have been here and who, for the most part, live and work legally.”

“If there are people who would like to see a serious slowdown in legal immigration. This will be achieved absolutely, and not only in the short term,” says former USCIS President Leon Rodriguez.

Approved citizenship applicants are another particularly vulnerable demographic group.

“These people are new to our country and often suffer from trauma or PTSD, so they are unable to work. If they do not obtain citizenship within a certain period, they will lose unemployment benefits and will be subject to the rule of being a burden on society,” he said.

Due to social distancing principles, naturalization interviews have dropped from 60 per day to 000. As the workforce shrinks, the number of face-to-face interviews will continue to decline, thus reducing the potential electorate for the 2000 presidential election.

The vacation will not only add 13 people to the more than 400 million already claiming unemployment benefits in the US, but it will also hurt employers who rely on immigrants with near-expiration work permits.

Iniyan Kolan, a recent graduate of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), spent his last day of work at Columbia's Earth Institute on July 17th. Colan's elective practical training was ending and he planned to apply for a change of status. When he was informed that the process would take 6-10 months, Kolan had no choice but to return home—his current status would expire during that period, leaving him unable to legally work in the United States.

“Somewhat surprising, but that’s all. It's just a series of unfortunate events. There's so much going on! I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens next. Embassies are closing, new visa restrictions are being introduced, but at the moment you just have to get used to it because it’s 2020,” Colan said.

He will return to Bangalore, India, where he will begin his J-1 visa application and hopes Trump's executive order that suspended those visas will end with his inauguration in January.

“From the time someone files a petition for their relatives until the green card is issued, no one will be able to help them, so they will have to sit and wait and languish,” Palinkas commented on the immigration implications of the decision to furlough USCIS employees.

Congress plans to vote on the bill in the last week of July.

Read also on ForumDaily:

US National Visa Application Center: what it is for and how it works

'It's getting worse': how the COVID-19 pandemic affected immigration in the United States

Contradictory and confusing: what's wrong with Trump's promised changes in US immigration policy

How can immigrants benefit from delays in USCIS?

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.