What should Congress do now that @USCIS is claiming insolvency & holding its 20,000 employees hostage—not to mention the legal immigration system—unless it gets a $1.2 billion taxpayer-funded bailout?
@AILANational has some eminently reasonable ideas…
1/
aila.org/advo-media/ail…
@AILANational has some eminently reasonable ideas…
1/
aila.org/advo-media/ail…
First, no bailout without full transparency.
"Congress should appoint an independent auditor to conduct an immediate review of the agency’s funding request by June 15, as well as a full audit of its budget and operations by June 30."
Congress has an auditor. Paging @USGAO!
2/
"Congress should appoint an independent auditor to conduct an immediate review of the agency’s funding request by June 15, as well as a full audit of its budget and operations by June 30."
Congress has an auditor. Paging @USGAO!
2/
No bailout until @USCIS stops digging itself an even deeper hole. Namely:
*Stop requiring needless interviews
*Stop re-adjudicating approved petitions
*Use fingerprints for 5 years (it's not like fingerprints change!)
*Stop wasting staff time on demanding extra paperwork
3/
*Stop requiring needless interviews
*Stop re-adjudicating approved petitions
*Use fingerprints for 5 years (it's not like fingerprints change!)
*Stop wasting staff time on demanding extra paperwork
3/
*Stop rejecting applications just because someone left a space blank instead of writing "N/A," a new Trump-era policy that is as wasteful as it is cruel.
4/
See @crampell:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-t…
4/
See @crampell:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-t…
*Suspend the #PublicCharge rule, which is doubling the size of green card applications, wasting an immense amount of staff time, and making the COVID-19 crisis more deadly.
5/
boundless.com/blog/unlawful-…
5/
boundless.com/blog/unlawful-…
No bailout until USCIS is prohibited, now and forever, from grabbing USCIS user fees and then zapping the money over to ICE. (The Trump administration keeps asking Congress for permission to do this, and Congress keeps saying no.)
6/
6/
No bailout until USCIS pulls itself up by its own bootstraps, by expanding its "Premium Processing" service (a longstanding cash cow) to all business customers.
(My own modeling, which I'll publish soon, suggests this alone could raise way more than $1.2 billion.)
7/
(My own modeling, which I'll publish soon, suggests this alone could raise way more than $1.2 billion.)
7/
No bailout until USCIS makes it easier to file paperwork, saving staff time & driving up filings/revenue:
*Allow digital signatures. (Paging @HelloSign!)
*Allow electronic payments for everything
*Make customer service reps provide customer service
*Explain policy changes
8/
*Allow digital signatures. (Paging @HelloSign!)
*Allow electronic payments for everything
*Make customer service reps provide customer service
*Explain policy changes
8/
Another better way USCIS could raise a lot of money: Allow people to apply for all the green cards previously wasted through administrative error.
cc @immivoice
9/
cc @immivoice
9/
No bailout until USCIS does some obvious things to help people in the middle of a pandemic:
*Suspend all deadlines & expirations, & excuse late filings, until after the COVID nat'l emergency
*Use alternatives to in-person interviews & citizenship oaths (paging @zoom_us)
10/
*Suspend all deadlines & expirations, & excuse late filings, until after the COVID nat'l emergency
*Use alternatives to in-person interviews & citizenship oaths (paging @zoom_us)
10/
Both parties can get on board with nearly all of these @AILANational ideas.
And members of Congress from both parties are going to face angry constituents if USCIS starts furloughing 1000s of employees in VT, CA, TX, NE, & MO.
Congress has leverage & should use it.
11/11
And members of Congress from both parties are going to face angry constituents if USCIS starts furloughing 1000s of employees in VT, CA, TX, NE, & MO.
Congress has leverage & should use it.
11/11
