Just how severe is U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) funding shortage? Bad enough that the self-funded agency, which processes forms such as citizenship paperwork and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal applications, could within a few short weeks be forced to furlough more than 13,000 of its 20,000 workers, CNN reported.
"This dramatic drop in revenue has made it impossible for our agency to operate at full capacity," a spokesperson said according to the report. "Without additional funding from Congress before August 3, USCIS has no choice but to administratively furlough a substantial portion of our workforce." This is a dire situation for both the agency and people seeking to make their home here. It also hasn’t happened by accident.
Following initial reports of USCIS’ impending financial disaster, former USCIS chief counsel and DHS Watch Director Ur Jaddou said in a statement received by Daily Kos that “Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda has run USCIS into the ground.”
“There are multiple policies that simply lock immigrants out from even applying, which decreases the amount of money coming into the agency,” Jaddou said. “There are multiple policies that make it harder and longer for legal immigrants and naturalization applicants to be adjudicated, many with little or no justification, but requires more resources and time to adjudicate. And then there’s USCIS using its resources—paid by customers for efficient processing of forms—to fund enforcement normally reserved for ICE and the Department of Justice.”
The American Immigration Lawyers Association noted in a brief that under the Trump administration, the radicalized agency has squandered resources assisting in the impeached president’s deportation machine. “USCIS, in concert with ICE, has staged deportation ‘traps’ of numerous noncitizens who adhered to USCIS’s own regulations for lawfully obtaining immigration benefits,” the brief said. Immigrant rights advocacy group noted nearly 200 different policy changes that have now “led the agency to bankruptcy.”
“So it’s no surprise that with overspending on restrictive policies, fewer people able to access legal immigration and pay fees, and misuse of funds for enforcement, the agency is now broke,” Jaddou said. It’s unclear how this could also affect demands from advocates, legal experts, and federal legislators for the administration to reopen DACA to brand new applications, following our recent win at the Supreme Court.
“As the Supreme Court has recognized, it is well within your executive authority to protect Dreamers,” legislators led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois told Trump. “Only Congress can provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, but it is up to you whether to use your administration’s authority to allow these young immigrants who have benefitted America in countless ways to continue contributing to our nation, or to continue your efforts to deport them.”
But as immigration attorney Joy Athanasiou recently noted to me, “The concern for myself & other immigration attorneys is that USCIS will literally invent obstacles and/or slow walk (barely a crawl) accepting new applications.” Funding issues could certainly help in that. But on the other hand, the administration reopening DACA to potentially tens of thousands of new applicants, at $495 an application, could also very much help with the agency’s funding issues, right?
“The Trump administration’s efforts to keep out and kick out immigrants and refugees has long been evident,” America’s Voice said in a statement. “The drive to dismantle our nation’s immigration system is now in overdrive. Given the political headwinds, Stephen Miller and his lackeys face the real possibility that the Trump presidency will end soon. It seems they are systematically and relentlessly destroying programs and services that represent America’s best traditions and in a manner that will have consequences long past the end of this ugly presidency.”
