USCIS averts furloughs… for now

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it will change its plan of furloughing more than 13,000 employees next week, temporarily averting a scenario that would have crippled the processing of applications for green cards, work permits, U.S. citizenship and other immigration benefits.

CBS News reviewed a message in which Deputy USCIS Director for Policy Joseph Edlow said the agency could avoid furloughs because its financial situation “improved somewhat” since the spring, when COVID-19 closures resulted in a drop in applications. However, though applications have increased since then, Edlow said the agency is still projecting a budget shortfall and will continue to require financial assistance from Congress. According to a bipartisan letter from the Congressional committee with oversight of the USCIS, the agency made over $800 million more in revenue than originally anticipated. 

The initial request for additional funding led to a standoff  in Congress between those wanting to see the USCIS fully funded and those wanting to restrict usage of money so that the agency could not engage in activities deemed outside the scope of its mission to provide services, such as intensive vetting, investigation of fraud, and denial of immigration benefits.

MHC