Donald Trump hasn’t been able to build the racist campaign chant that Mexico was supposed to pay for, but his administration is intent on walling us off from the world in other ways. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), historically a paper-pushing agency that processes paperwork such as citizenship applications, is preparing to shut down up to two dozen international offices, the New York Times reports.
USCIS director L. Francis Cissna wrote in an email, “I believe by doing so we will better leverage our funds to address backlogs in the United States while also leveraging existing Department of State resources at post.” But USCIS is mostly funded by application fees. The truth is that Cissna has sought to politicize the agency, even stripping the description of the U.S. as “a nation of immigrants” from the agency’s mission statement. Cissna himself has appeared at an event hosted by an anti-immigrant hate group.
It’s not that hard to figure out that an administration that’s seeking to steal billions from military pensions and military housing construction and repairs for a stupid and useless border wall isn’t really all that concerned about money-saving efforts in other areas of the government. The goal for Trump loyalists like Cissna has always been to keep more people, especially brown and black ones, out.
Career officials fear what’s next. The New York Times reports that “The overseas division provides logistical assistance to American citizens, lawful permanent residents and refugees seeking to bring family members to the United States; people who have been persecuted and wish to resettle in the United States; Americans who adopt children internationally; and members of the military and their families applying for citizenship.”
A USCIS spokesperson is claiming that“the proposed reorganization would shift the agency’s workload to other offices but not necessarily cut back on its operations,” but that remains to be seen. The administration’s efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border hindering asylum-seekers from exercising their right to make their claims have resulted in people being stuck in Mexico for months, with port of entry officials claiming they’re at capacity and unable to process even small numbers of people.
"We have serious consular needs around the world," Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said about USCIS’ plan. "As someone who came to this country on a visa for 17 years, I know what that's like to stand in a visa line. People around the world depend on these services.” Former Refugee Affairs Division official Barbara Strack warned, “It will be a great blow to the quality and integrity of the legal immigration system. It will throw that system into chaos around the world.”