Immigration News
USCIS Releases New Data on Effective Reduction of Backlogs, Support for Humanitarian Missions, and Fiscal Responsibility
Today, 07 Dezember with new information demonstrating how it reduced backlogs in certain programs and supported humanitarian missions. The report summarizes numerous steps USCIS has taken, which include strengthening its fiscal stability, and implementing adjudicatory efficiencies, policy measures and agency-wide backlog reduction efforts. At the same time, USCIS has continued to meet the extraordinary demands on its humanitarian programs, upholding America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility.
“Every immigration case entrusted to us represents an individual or a family seeking to build a better life in the United States,” said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou. “We have made measurable progress towards building a more humane immigration system thanks to the innovation and dedication of the USCIS workforce. There is more work to do, especially to reduce processing times for all people we serve, and congressional support is critical to achieving our ambitious backlog reduction goals in the year ahead.”
The data demonstrates how both backlog reduction and humanitarian services were successfully supported by crucial appropriations by Congress in FY 2022. Moving forward, congressional support of the agency’s FY 2023 budget request will be critical to help support humanitarian services and eliminate current backlogs.
The report also highlights how furlough notices, a hiring freeze, and drastic cuts to contract staff during the COVID-19 pandemic critically impacted USCIS’ ability to keep pace with incoming applications, heightening the need for USCIS to pursue an upcoming fee rule to prevent the accumulation of new backlogs in the future.
Backed by crucial fiscal support from Congress, USCIS restored fiscal stability and turned the tide on backlog growth by surging hiring and establishing an agency-wide focus on operational efficiency. In FY 2022, in coordination with the Department of State, the agency utilized more than 281,000 employment-based visas, twice the typical statutory annual allotment. This was made possible due to the large number of family-sponsored visas that remained unused in FY 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, USCIS expanded its existing humanitarian mission and responded to emerging priorities for the U.S. government, such as Operation Allies Welcome, Uniting for Ukraine, and the recently announced Process for Venezuelans. The agency surged resources to effectively address its humanitarian responsibilities, which led to the issuance of more than 92,000 work permits for Afghan nationals, many of whom worked alongside us in Afghanistan for the past two decades; the adjudication of benefits to facilitate Afghan resettlement in the United States, such as asylum and special immigrant status; and the issuance of nearly 120,000 travel authorizations to Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members who were impacted by Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
In the months ahead, the agency plans to build on this progress by implementing premium processing for all petitions for immigrant workers (Form I-140) and certain employment authorization applications (Form I-765) for students and exchange visitors; establishing a permanent biometrics exemption for all applicants for change of nonimmigrant status and extension of nonimmigrant stay (Form I-539); and simplifying several common forms, including the applications for employment authorization (Form I-765), adjustment of status (Form I-485), and naturalization (Form N-400). In addition, the report highlights upcoming steps to advance the USCIS humanitarian mission, including online filing and notices, new rulemakings, and increased staffing and public engagement #i130 #news
Delays: US Immigration Agency accumulates more than 8.7 million pending cases
Applications for the I-130 form (Green Card application by family) take the longest (Photo:Reuters - Mike Blake)
With more than eight million backlogs, the wait time for immigrants for a service from the US immigration agency has been long. Data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reveal that, as of September 30 of this year, there were 8,753,371 pending applications. The highest number since March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the temporary closure of the agency's offices across the country.
“It's a serious situation,” Lilia Velásquez, an adjunct professor at the University of California School of Law, told Univision. According to her, the situation is mainly due to the high number of asylum cases that are filed daily at the border with Mexico. “And it will grow much more when the Title 42 policy is eliminated”, warns the professor.
The application queue for the form I-130 (Green Card application by family) is the largest, with 1,699,329 applications. Next comes the I-765 (permits or work permits), with 1,512,258. The third place is occupied by requests through the I-90 form (replaces the green card), with 1,009,769 pending.
Permanent residency or adjustment of status applicants via Form I-485, and citizenship processes are also on hold. Last month, a group of immigrants even sued the USCIS for the excessive delay in naturalization, which threatened them to exercise their right to vote in the November 2022 elections.
With regard to asylum applications, as of June 30, there were 505,093 applications for form I-589; not to mention another nearly two million that are processed at the Immigration Case Review Office, EOIR.
Since fiscal 2010, the backlog of cases at USCIS has multiplied more than fourfold. The increase in immigration to the United States, in general, is also pointed out as a cause for the overload of processes. In 2017, the first year of Donald Trump's administration, there were 5,606,618 pending benefit claims. Four years later, in 2021, when Biden arrived at the White House, the queue registered 6,380,926 cases pending resolution. #I-130 #cases #imigration #processtime
H.Res. 575: Supporting an efficient legal immigration system and reducing case processing delays.
Congressional Bill is definitely worth a read.
Some key points
Whereas USCIS data indicate that the processing times for immigrations benefits have increased substantially over the past five fiscal years;
Whereas, from the end of fiscal year 2016 to the end of fiscal year 2017, USCIS’s "net backlog" of delayed cases increased by over 100 percent while its overall case volume increased by only four percent;
Whereas USCIS processed 94 percent of its application and petition form types more slowly in fiscal year 2018 than in fiscal year 2014;
Whereas, according to a recent analysis, USCIS’s overall average case processing time increased by 101 percent from the end of fiscal year 2014 to the end of fiscal year 2019;
Whereas, at of the end of fiscal year 2019, USCIS has reached an unprecedented "net backlog" of 2.5 million cases;
H.Res. 575: Supporting an efficient legal immigration system and reducing case processing delays.
“H.Res. 575 — 117th Congress: Supporting an efficient legal immigration system and reducing case processing delays.” www.GovTrack.us. 2021. November 26, 2022 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hres575>
