Looming Immigration Services Shutdown May Fuel Voter Suppression in 2020

[CousinIT]

https://truthout.org/articles/looming-immigration-services-shutdown-may-fuel-voter-suppression-in-2020/

Trump’s ghoulish exploitation of the coronavirus pandemic to further his anti-immigrant policies has also manufactured a crisis at the federal agency responsible for green cards, citizenship, asylum and myriad other immigration matters. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is about to run out of money, and if Congress doesn’t act, will furlough more than two-thirds of the USCIS workforce in August. Such a shutdown would further extend the “invisible wall” Trump created to suppress immigration of all kinds. In an election year in which Trump seems determined to use every tool of voter suppression possible, the shutdown of USCIS could mean hundreds of thousands of potential new voters may be denied the ballot.

Trump’s policy changes pre-pandemic were already creating staggering wait times at USCIS, a problem that received congressional scrutiny. But coronavirus, combined with Trump’s exploitation of the crisis to shut down immigration even further, is not only exacerbating the backlog, but is also leading to a 50 percent decrease in fees beginning in March. This has left USCIS, which is almost entirely funded by fees paid by immigrants, in need of a $1.2 billion bailout. Without it, the agency says it will be forced to furlough nearly two-thirds of its entire staff (13,400 of 20,000 employees) on August 3.

When Trump took office, USCIS had a surplus. Less than three years later, the agency finds itself in crisis. Observers of USCIS believe the funding crisis, although exacerbated by coronavirus, is due to mismanagement. Trump repeatedly raided USCIS to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): In 2019 and 2020 USCIS transferred $415.2 million total in revenue to ICE. Under Trump, USCIS enacted a slew of new policies and regulations that both suppress immigration and divert resources and money. For instance, changing regulations regarding who is considered a “public charge” to prevent people from becoming green card holders, suspending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and eliminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of people unable to return to their country of nationality due to armed conflict or natural disaster. And the White House suspended the H-1B program — these are visas often employed by wealthy employers like Wall Street and tech firms to hire temporary workers. These visas can cost nearly $6,000 per worker, so the Trump administration’s changes to this program significantly cut into USCIS revenues.

The White House has all but abandoned USCIS, refusing to formally ask Congress for additional funding. This is surely by design; the Trump administration has tried at every turn to shut down immigration to the U.S. Slowing down USCIS and starving it of resources is one way to achieve that.

The collateral damage of this agency operating at one-third of its capacity is incalculable. Before the pandemic, USCIS was naturalizing 3,195 new citizens and granting 2,200 new green cards each day. The agency also makes important, daily decisions on 30,000 applications on issues ranging from asylum to employment authorization. Shutting it down spells disaster for people seeking benefits, and all the more so in light of a historically high backlog acknowledged by USCIS’s own ombudsman. Delays mean people are left waiting for answers on their TPS applications, unable to leave an abusive spouse while they wait for their green card filed under the Violence Against Women Act, or stuck in limbo when they need to renew their DACA status.

[elleng]

1. 'the federal agency responsible for green cards, citizenship, asylum

and myriad other immigration matters. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is about to run out of money.'