With the Trump administration on a continued anti-immigration tear as a campaign-hedge for November 2020 elections, and as the COVID-19 pandemic rampages on, the American immigration system—largely funded by visa and green card applications—is basically running out of money.
Now, it may have to temporarily lay off thousands of workers, and thus potentially bring immigration to a near halt from its already painfully slow crawl.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) now finds itself in a situation in which it desperately needs emergency funding. If it doesn’t get it by August 3rd, it will have to furlough 13,000 employees for several months.
The USCIS squarely blames the pandemic for the massive decline in visa and green card applications, but others will also blame the Trump administration’s policies proceeding and during the pandemic.
According to a USCIS spokesperson cited by BuzzFeed News, the agency has seen a 50% drop in receipts and incoming fees since March, due to the pandemic. The agency also “estimates that application and petition receipts will stay well below plan through the end of Fiscal Year 2020”.
“This dramatic drop in revenue has made it impossible for our agency to operate at full capacity. Without additional funding from Congress before August 3, USICS has no choice but to administratively furlough a substantial portion of our workforce,” the spokesperson said.
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https://safehaven.com/markets/economy/Immigration-Will-Go-Bust-Without-12B-Bailout.html
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