Thread by @DavidLeopold

1/Wonky but important. Yesterday @USCIS released a policy memo which, in effect, appears to target individuals, families & employers applying for #immigration benefits, including citizenship, green cards & visa petitions uscis.gov/sites/default/…

@USCIS 2/Buried on Page 6 is a section entitled "Denials Based on Lack of Sufficient Initial Evidence". There the memo highlights 2 types of cases that can be denied without giving the applicant a chance to submit more evidence...

@USCIS 3/First, Waiver Applications: Most such apps are based on a showing of "extreme hardship" to a US spouse, parent or child if the applicant is deported fr or not permitted to be in the US.

@USCIS 4/They are very complicated apps. Acc'd to the memo they can be denied w/o giving the applicant a chance to supplement. Ex: Woman applies for waiver because US citizen husband suffers fr rare disease not treatable outside US. USCIS bureaucrat denies app w/o requesting suppl info

@USCIS 5/Second, Cases w/require submission of an
"official doc or other form or evid establishing eligibility at the time of filing." Basically a directive to USCIS bureaucrats to deny immigration apps on easily fixable hyper-technical grds, eg applicant fails to file a certified doc

@USCIS 6/These examples are not exhaustive, they include any USCIS immigration benefit application, petition, or request.

This, coupled w/a recent USCIS memo directing the commencement of deportation proceedings where an immigration app is denied with no underlying status is ominous.

@USCIS 7/At first glance it seems aimed at individuals, families businesses trying to navigate the arcane, user-hostile #immigration petitioning process.

More USCIS denials=more deportation charges=heavier court backlogs=more deportation.

That’s what this seems to be about.