USCIS could run out of money by the end of summer without a $1.2 billion bailout, faces a massive budget shortfall because fewer immigrants are applying to enter the United States

Nicole Narea for Vox reports that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is asking Congress for $1.2 billion in funding. It claims that, because of a decline in immigration, it will run out of money by the end of the summer. Unlike other federal agencies, USCIS receives almost no taxpayer dollars and is funded by fees paid for applications for green cards, visas, work permits, naturalization, and other benefits. The pandemic has resulted in a “dramatic decrease” in CIS revenues that will likely to worsen as applications are estimated to drop further. President Donald Trump’s restrictions on immigration, limitations on travel, and the closure of government offices all have contributed to the decline.

Narea writes:

“Immigration has come nearly to a standstill over the past two months. The Trump administration has shuttered USCIS offices, closed consulates abroad, shut down the borders with Canada and Mexico and imposed a 60-day ban on the issuance of new green cards. Asylum processing at the southern border has also practically stopped, as Trump administration officials implemented a program to rapidly return migrants to Mexico without so much as a health exam.

While brought on by the pandemic, this kind of decrease in legal immigration is what Trump has long sought. He has railed against what he calls “chain migration,” referring to US citizens or permanent residents who sponsor their immigrant family members for visas and green cards. And he has sought to keep poor immigrants out by proposing to reject those who don’t have health insurance or who might use public benefits in the future. (Courts have blocked the restrictions on immigrants without health insurance from going into effect for now, but the policy affecting immigrants who might go on public benefits went into effect in February.)”

KJ