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USCIS Delays Major Staffing Furloughs Until August 31

COVID-19 and economy recession
By Elizabeth (Liz) Espín Stern
July 27, 2020
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US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency within Homeland Security responsible for adjudicating applications and petitions seeking immigration and naturalization benefits, announced on Friday that staffing furloughs originally planned to begin August 3, have been delayed until August 31.  The delays, which could have affected some 70% of USCIS staff engaged in processing these benefits, stemmed from an allegedly “crippling budget shortfall” stemming from agency predictions of  a 61% drop in application and petition requests through the end of the fiscal year.

Members of Congress have questioned USCIS’s projections about its funding, including Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who has said the agency projected it would end the fiscal year with a budget surplus.  A USCIS spokesperson also indicated that recent uptick in revenue has allowed the agency to postpone the furloughs.  Despite this, the agency is standing by its original request to Congress for an additional $1.2 billion in emergency funding, plus authorization to add a 10% surcharge on its application fees.

Our full coverage of the furlough issue may be found on The Mobile Workforce.

***

If you wish to receive periodic updates on this or other topics related to the pandemic, you can be added to our COVID-19 “Special Interest” mailing list by subscribing here. For any other legal questions related to this pandemic, please contact the Firm’s COVID-19 Core Response Team at FW-SIG-COVID-19-Core-Response-Team@mayerbrown.com.

Photo of Elizabeth (Liz) Espín Stern Elizabeth (Liz) Espín Stern

Elizabeth Espín Stern, a partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office, leads the firm’s Global Mobility & Migration practice, which forms part of the Employment & Benefits group. She is a seasoned veteran, advising on US and global immigration, HR and mobility services.

Elizabeth Espín Stern, a partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office, leads the firm’s Global Mobility & Migration practice, which forms part of the Employment & Benefits group. She is a seasoned veteran, advising on US and global immigration, HR and mobility services. She is consistently ranked as a leading business immigration lawyer by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Who’s Who Legal, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, and national and local publications. In addition, she has been named in Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and “Women in Law Awards 2014” by Lawyer Monthly and named one of National Law Journal’s “Outstanding Women Lawyers 2015.” She spearheads Mayer Brown’s new global worksite management initiative. This “Global People Solution” offers multinational clients, in a variety of sectors including financial services, IT, defense, telecommunications and multimedia, a comprehensive compliance and risk management program in connection with their mobile workforce. Liz regularly speaks and writes about immigration policies and contributes to major news agencies and publications, including Law 360, Quartz.com, Global Business News and a host of global HR publications.

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  • Posted in:
    Health Care
  • Blog:
    COVID-19 Response Blog
  • Organization:
    Mayer Brown
  • Article: View Original Source

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