The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a number of policy updates intended to reduce the massive immigration backlog, which has resulted in years-long waits for many applicants.
Under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) changes, the federal government will expand staffing, expand applications that can be more quickly processed for an additional fee, and “ensure certain individuals will not lose their work authorization status while their applications are pending.”
“USCIS remains committed to delivering timely and fair decisions to all we serve,” said USCIS Director Ur Jaddou. “Every application we adjudicate represents the hopes and dreams of immigrants and their families, as well as their critical immediate needs such as financial stability and humanitarian protection.”
RELATED STORY: Biden administration readies new policy intended to speed up asylum process
“’Premium processing’ allows people applying for certain immigration benefits to pay USCIS a lot of money to jump to the front of the line,” tweeted American Immigration Council Senior Policy Counsel Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. It’ll benefit those who can afford it at a costly $2,500 in additional fees. “The Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act was designed to raise extra cash by expanding the benefits eligible for premium processing,” he continued.
“Currently, the service is limited to certain applications, including H-1B petitions and some employment-based green card requests,” CBS News reports. The expanded plan will be gradually phased in. “The rule, set to take effect in 60 days, will expand premium processing to additional employment-based green card applications, all work permit petitions and temporary immigration status extension requests, allowing applicants to pay $2,500 to have their cases adjudicated within 45 days.”
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Migration Policy Institute said earlier this year that USCIS’ backlog “has surged from 5.7 million applications at the end of FY 2019 to about 9.5 million as of February,” worsened by both the previous administration’s anti-immigrant hatred and the novel coronavirus pandemic. When it comes to the former situation, the previous administration already burdened USCIS workers to volunteer to assist mass deportation agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with its paperwork. In the latter situation, immigrant applicants have been in limbo in part because their paperwork has been stuck in a cave.
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) was supportive of the administration’s changes, tweeting that thousands of its members have lost their jobs while waiting for work permit renewal processing.
"This extension will not only help ASAP members, but will benefit asylum seekers, other immigrant workers, as well as their employers and the communities that rely on their work as doctors, construction workers, truck drivers, software engineers and more," ASAP Co-founder Conchita Cruz told CBS News. Asylum-seeker Jairo Umana told the outlet he’s been waiting a year for his permit renewal. He’s currently working under an extension and fears that might end soon too. "It is stressful. You're always worried," he told CBS News. "Being out of work triggers a chain reaction: there's no income, there's no money for rent, there's no food."
The Biden administration has also finalized a rule proposed last summer intended to speed up the asylum process for some vulnerable people by allowing USCIS officers to handle cases instead of leaving them solely to immigration judges. The administration said that asylum-seekers who aren’t approved by an asylum officer will then have their cases reviewed by an immigration judge.
But experts have expressed worry that “new timetables would all but guarantee that the vast majority of asylum seekers won't have time to find a lawyer,” tweeted immigration policy lawyer Ben Orlebeke. Under the rule, cases will have to be resolved within 90 days.
“Due to existing court backlogs, the process for hearing and deciding these asylum cases currently takes several years on average,” the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice said in a statement Thursday. “When fully implemented, the reforms and new efficiencies will shorten the process to several months for most asylum applicants covered by this rule.”
RELATED STORIES: Immigrant applicants are in limbo because their paperwork is stuck in a cave. No, really
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Under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) changes, the federal government will expand staffing, expand applications that can be more quickly processed for an additional fee, and “ensure certain individuals will not lose their work authorization status while their applications are pending.”
“USCIS remains committed to delivering timely and fair decisions to all we serve,” said USCIS Director Ur Jaddou. “Every application we adjudicate represents the hopes and dreams of immigrants and their families, as well as their critical immediate needs such as financial stability and humanitarian protection.”
RELATED STORY: Biden administration readies new policy intended to speed up asylum process
“’Premium processing’ allows people applying for certain immigration benefits to pay USCIS a lot of money to jump to the front of the line,” tweeted American Immigration Council Senior Policy Counsel Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. It’ll benefit those who can afford it at a costly $2,500 in additional fees. “The Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act was designed to raise extra cash by expanding the benefits eligible for premium processing,” he continued.
“Currently, the service is limited to certain applications, including H-1B petitions and some employment-based green card requests,” CBS News reports. The expanded plan will be gradually phased in. “The rule, set to take effect in 60 days, will expand premium processing to additional employment-based green card applications, all work permit petitions and temporary immigration status extension requests, allowing applicants to pay $2,500 to have their cases adjudicated within 45 days.”
Listen and subscribe to Daily Kos' The Brief podcast with Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld
Embedded Content
Migration Policy Institute said earlier this year that USCIS’ backlog “has surged from 5.7 million applications at the end of FY 2019 to about 9.5 million as of February,” worsened by both the previous administration’s anti-immigrant hatred and the novel coronavirus pandemic. When it comes to the former situation, the previous administration already burdened USCIS workers to volunteer to assist mass deportation agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with its paperwork. In the latter situation, immigrant applicants have been in limbo in part because their paperwork has been stuck in a cave.
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) was supportive of the administration’s changes, tweeting that thousands of its members have lost their jobs while waiting for work permit renewal processing.
"This extension will not only help ASAP members, but will benefit asylum seekers, other immigrant workers, as well as their employers and the communities that rely on their work as doctors, construction workers, truck drivers, software engineers and more," ASAP Co-founder Conchita Cruz told CBS News. Asylum-seeker Jairo Umana told the outlet he’s been waiting a year for his permit renewal. He’s currently working under an extension and fears that might end soon too. "It is stressful. You're always worried," he told CBS News. "Being out of work triggers a chain reaction: there's no income, there's no money for rent, there's no food."
The Biden administration has also finalized a rule proposed last summer intended to speed up the asylum process for some vulnerable people by allowing USCIS officers to handle cases instead of leaving them solely to immigration judges. The administration said that asylum-seekers who aren’t approved by an asylum officer will then have their cases reviewed by an immigration judge.
But experts have expressed worry that “new timetables would all but guarantee that the vast majority of asylum seekers won't have time to find a lawyer,” tweeted immigration policy lawyer Ben Orlebeke. Under the rule, cases will have to be resolved within 90 days.
“Due to existing court backlogs, the process for hearing and deciding these asylum cases currently takes several years on average,” the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice said in a statement Thursday. “When fully implemented, the reforms and new efficiencies will shorten the process to several months for most asylum applicants covered by this rule.”
RELATED STORIES: Immigrant applicants are in limbo because their paperwork is stuck in a cave. No, really
Advocacy groups outline how President Biden can protect immigrant families on his own