Visa applications have plunged.
Nearly 70 percent of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees are facing furloughs next month unless Congress authorizes emergency funding for them.
Nearly 13,400 employees have already received notices of looming furloughs that would begin August 3. The need for these people who administer green card applications, work permits, asylum requests, naturalization ceremonies, and other immigration services, has diminished as the U.S. has seen a drastic decrease in applications during the coronavirus pandemic, and the agency has been deprived of the revenue it would otherwise generate in fees.
If Congress and the president do not come to an agreement in the next days, not only will the workforce have a cloud hanging over it, but so would be the millions of immigrants who file petitions with the agency in any given year.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For employees with the Customs and Immigration Service who are looking at an uncertain future with the agency.
- For the leaders of Congress and President Trump to come to an agreement that could possibly include continued funding for these employees along with a new stimulus relief program.
Sources: New York Times, CBS News
