Approximately 13,400 employees of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will be furloughed beginning in August, a move that will effectively bring the U.S. immigration system grinding to a halt. In the early hours of Monday morning, USCIS employees received emails telling them the furloughs would begin on August 3 and last for at least 30 days, with the potential to last three months or longer. Employees were told last week that around 73% of the agency’s entire staff would be put out of work temporarily. USCIS has nearly 20,000 employees total. It is interesting to note from a congressional testimony of 2019 that [unlike most other federal agencies] a significant amount of the USCIS’s $14.8 billion operating budget (nearly 97%), comes from immigration fees.
As per USCIS spokesperson, USCIS has seen a 50% drop in receipts and incoming fees starting in March and estimates that application and petition receipts will stay well below plan through the end of Fiscal Year 2020. The effect became detrimental to USCIS because of President Trump's most recent executive order canceling visa categories like H-1B [visas], certain J1s, and green card applications that make more money to USCIS.
Vijay Bhagwati, Esq.
Founder and Managing Partner
