Demand Congress fund U​.​S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Demand Congress fund U​.​S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Started
May 29, 2020
Petition to
US House of Representatives - California-12 Nancy Pelosi and 4 others
Petition Closed
This petition had 19,126 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Marissa Lyttle

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is due to run out of funds and desperately needs temporary funding to be approved by Congress. USCIS administers and grants work permits, green cards, asylum requests and other immigration benefits for non-citizens. The USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) ensures the integrity of the immigration system resulting in reduced risks to U.S. national security.

USCIS asked Congress for $1.2 billion in funds over two years, due to the drastic decrease in benefit applications during the pandemic. USCIS has pledged to repay the funds to the U.S. Treasury Department by making changes to application processing requirements and fees. The White House budget office backed USCIS' request to Congress. Borrowed funds would be used for payroll, rent, office contracts, IT, fingerprint and background check processes.

Funding USCIS is critical to both American citizens and immigrants. If USCIS does not receive the requested funds the impact will be devastating for USCIS employees, families, and immigrants. USCIS employees will be furloughed for many months without pay and health insurance coverage. Many more American families and immigrants will continue to suffer from lack of pay and face having the inability to meet their basic needs such as food, healthcare, and housing. Immigrant work and visitor visa petitions, asylum and citizenship/naturalization applications, green cards, and refugee applications will not be processed. This will result in more loss of jobs and dire consequences for those impacted. American citizens who are petitioning for family members will not have applications adjudicated, resulting in prolonged separation of families. National security risks and public safety threats may go unidentified by USCIS if employees are furloughed; therefore, funding is critical to maintain national security.

On behalf of all individuals who will be negatively impacted if funding for USCIS is not provided, I am pleading with you to insist that Congress fund USCIS. Please help families impacted by this issue maintain their livelihood during a time of crisis in our country.

Petition Closed

This petition had 19,126 supporters

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