USCIS Should Improve Asylum Seekers Interview Scheduling Policy

There are over 1 million cases pending in (immigration) court. Many of them are asylum seekers. In addition, there are over 350,000 cases pending at the asylum offices.

Majority of pending cases both in the immigration court and asylum offices are pending for more than 3 years. Most of the asylum seekers with pending cases have their families left behind in their original country facing danger. The asylum seekers with years of pending cases go through stress, depression, anxiety and anger issues. Also due to their pending cases, they are missing on educational opportunities, financial opportunities, and career opportunities, right to vote, a tricky issue but very important, and are scared to use free speech because of repercussions.

I have a pending case for almost 4.5 years now. When I applied for asylum in April 2016, I was told there is a waiting list for an asylum seeker interview and you will probably get your interview in 2-3 years. So I joined the waiting list.  But, just as I started seeing light at the end of the interview waiting list tunnel, USCIS changed the interview scheduling rules.

On 01/31/2018, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the agency will schedule asylum interviews for recent applications ahead of older filings, in an attempt to stem the growth of the agency’s asylum backlog.” In simple words those who come today will get an interview and a person who applied in 2016 has to wait. In other words, Last In, First Out! LIFO!!*

With LIFO, my life was further affected. I cannot put in words the emotional and mental suffering it has caused me and I go through. I can give few examples of how the LIFO and the extended backlog has affected me in materialistic was. Mine is just an example, there are hundreds of thousands others like me who have their own stories and how LIFO has hit them hard.

I was approved for admission at Virginia Commonwealth University for a Post-graduate Certificate, but I had to pay “out of state” fee because I have a pending asylum case. Even though I have been paying State taxes for the last 3 years, my car is registered in Virginia and since January 2016 I have lived in Virginia. I did not pursue the course. I can speak, write and read 4 languages, and only speak a fifth language, but I cannot utilize this skill because mostly jobs with extensive language requirements, also require “security clearance”, security clearance require a minimum of “Permanent Residency”, I cannot get clearance because I have a pending asylum case since 4.5 years. I want to meet my parents in a third country, I cannot not easily do it, because I have a pending asylum case for 4.5 years. I don’t contribute “extra contribution” towards my retirement which is met by my employer, because I have a pending asylum case since 4.5 years and I’m not sure whether I will ever benefit from retirement. These are few examples of how a pending case can affect a person’s life.

Since January 31, 2018, thousands of asylum cases have been processed and thousands of cases have been approved as well. I am happy for those who had a genuine case and have been granted asylum. But is this ethically right that one waits years in limbo and another gets approved in a month? If for not the personal pain and emotional suffering asylum seekers go through after getting stuck in the backlog, just take paying taxes into consideration. Those stuck in the asylum backlog for years, have been paying Federal and State taxes for longer time than a person who applies today and gets an approval in a month or two.

Let’s have a look at two case timelines under “Last in, First out” interview scheduling policy.

Case 1:

Applied for affirmative asylum: April 2016

Interview: Waiting for interview for almost 4.5 years
Case Status: Pending asylum
Case 2.

Applied for affirmative asylum: April 2019
Interviewed: June 2019
Case Status: Approved July 2019
Applied for Green Card: July 2020.

Is this justice with people like me who have been paying taxes for years, taxes which in part fund the Department of Homeland Security and other Federal and State agencies which will be processing documents for a person who has not paid a single penny in taxes but already benefits from taxes paid by those stuck in the backlog for years?!

Let’s say a person who pays Federal tax, Medicare tax, Social Security tax and State tax for years, and gets rejected after years of waiting (not because the case was not genuine but e.g. country situation changed or USCIS changed eligible categories…), will it be fair and legally right to take their money for “social security” which they won’t benefit from or spend his/her money on others?

I have no expertise to answer whether it is legal or not, but I think it is not ethically right to ask person A to pay taxes and wait in a limbo for years. On the other hand spend the same taxes Person A has paid on person B who has not paid a penny in taxes, has been in the USA for less than a month, gets an approval, and enjoys all the benefits tax paying Person A cannot because of a pending asylum case for years!

What can USCIS do to address older cases in backlog?

1-               Reinstate “First in, First Out”.

2-               USCIS should divide its resources between oldest cases and newest cases. So both old and new cases can be processed and fraudulent applicants, new or old don’t misuse the asylum system.

3-               Issue combo cards, EAD+ Travel documents for those with more than 5 years of pending case, so at least they can visit family members in a third country easily.

4-              Add premium paying option: Some may be ready to pay a premium for their case to be processed like there is a premium for processing some visa types. There can be criteria for paying premium e.g. minimum 3 years of pending case. There can different categories of premium say a 5 year old pending case should pay $1000, a 4 year old pending case should pay $1500, and a 3 year old pending case should pay $2000 to get a premium processing.

*How will the lady at the door feel, when the gentleman from the end takes her place and enters the door!!