Immigrants could help the US labor shortage -- if the government would let them

[Pantagruel]

1. Anyone examine

staffing differences at USCIS under Obama v. Trump? This sounds like yet another problem caused at least in part by Trump antagonism and left for Biden to fix.

"The pandemic is partly to blame. Monthslong USCIS office closures and staff shortages have created a backlog of more than 8 million applications across all types of immigration benefits — including green cards, visas, and protection from deportation — and most work permit applicants have to be photographed and fingerprinted in person. USCIS was also plagued by a budget crisis under the Trump administration, and work permit applications spiked last fiscal year to an all-time high of 2.6 million, straining the agency’s capacity.

Under President Joe Biden, USCIS has taken some measures to combat the problem, though has stopped short of automatically extending the validity period of expired work permits as advocates have requested.... It has also hired new staff, including 200 people in the agency’s asylum division, to address the backlog....

Earlier this month, a federal court vacated two Trump-era rules that had restricted access to work permits for asylum seekers, meaning that their applications could be processed more quickly going forward."