Layoffs Canceled: House of Representatives Found a Way to Get USCIS Out of Budget Crisis
The US House of Representatives has approved a bill to provide emergency funding to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which would otherwise have to lay off about 70% of its employees due to lack of funds. Writes about it The Economic Times.
USCIS, which is dependent on visa fee income, should have lay off more than 13 employees at the end of Augustas she was running out of funds.
USCIS has requested $ 1,2 billion from the government for emergency funding. The bill, approved on Saturday, August 22, does not provide for the allocation of additional funds to the department, but lawmakers have found another way to bring the Service out of the crisis.
The bill proposes to increase processing fees for premium visa applications to $ 2 from $ 500 and extend this innovation to different categories of visas.
Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Washington state, joined with fellow Representatives to introduce a bill aimed at preventing layoffs.
More than 1000 employees at the Vermont service center in St Albans and Essex are due to be laid off at the end of the month as part of a nationwide layoff.
On the subject: US immigration system is on the verge of collapse due to financial problems USCIS
In a statement Friday, August 21, lawmakers warned that “if layoffs occur, they will have a devastating effect on the agency's ability to provide immigration and naturalization services to many immigrants for many months, if not years, in the future,” writes Samessenger.
«Запланированные увольнения USCIS — ненужная катастрофа для рабочих Вермонта, их семей и местной экономики, которая полагается на эти рабочие места. Этот законопроект является важной временной мерой для защиты более 1100 жителей Вермонта и более 13000 сотрудников USCIS по всей стране, которые в настоящее время сталкиваются с риском увольнения. Мы продолжим работать над изменением и реформированием USCIS, чтобы обеспечить справедливое соответствие требованиям нашей иммиграционной политики. Но в это критическое и сложное время мы должны сначала предотвратить увольнения, которые нанесут сокрушительный удар по USCIS», — сказал Велч.
«Этот закон не является полным решением текущих финансовых проблем USCIS. Но это предоставит ведомству быстрый доступ к дополнительным доходам, что избавит от необходимости немедленных увольнений. Во время рекордной безработицы и увеличения задержек в рассмотрении иммиграционных виз мы должны сделать все от нас зависящее, чтобы USCIS могла поддерживать свою нынешнюю рабочую силу и продолжать работать на полную мощность», — сказала председатель подкомитета по иммиграции и гражданству Зои Лофгрен, демократ из Калифорнии.
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