{"id":23011,"date":"2020-05-28T10:24:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T14:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=23011"},"modified":"2020-05-28T11:24:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T15:24:26","slug":"uscis-funding-fees-covid-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2020\/05\/28\/uscis-funding-fees-covid-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"USCIS Should Stay Fee-Funded"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS<\/a>) is struggling. The agency that handles and processes all legal immigration into the country is running out of money<\/a>. Why is that? It is because USCIS – uniquely – funds itself by levying fees on immigration applications, forms, and the like. With less immigration largely because of COVID-19, USCIS sees less revenue. Some argue that the regular appropriations process<\/a> should fund USCIS. This would be a monumental mistake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Trump responded to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic by slowing or pausing travel and immigration from scores of countries, greatly reducing the number of immigrant applications and forms sent to USCIS and thus starving the agency of fees that fund the entire operation. USCIS, in turn, continues asking Congress for an emergency influx of cash in the next round of stimulus funding<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temporary funding may become necessary to keep\nUSCIS afloat during the unprecedented economic effects caused by the response\nof state, Federal, and international authorities to the coronavirus pandemic.\nBut under no circumstances should USCIS become entirely funded by the\nappropriations process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few reasons for this. One – the\nfee-for-service model is efficient in normal times. Taxpayers should not foot\nthe bill for for the services required to handle immigration applications.\nMaking the prospective immigrants, their sponsors, and their employers pay for\nthese services is common sense. It further reinforces the idea that the proper\nrole of USCIS is not merely to churn out visas to the United States, whether\nnonimmigrant or immigrant. Rather, the responsibility of the agency is to\nconduct a thorough investigative procedure that protects the interests and\nsecurity of the nation. It is not a bad\nthing <\/em>for a government agency to practice fiscal self-sufficiency as USCIS\ndoes in normal times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, USCIS\u2019s funding ensures that it does not become another plaything of politicians engaging in political gamesmanship. Both Republicans and Democrats use the appropriations process to push through ridiculous partisan goals and preferences, to say nothing of extraneous pork barrel funding<\/a>. Can you imagine what open-borders and anti-reform zealots could write into USCIS\u2019s funding? We already know what the House Democrats do with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bills. DHS is the parent agency of USCIS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recall the House Democrats\u2019 initial Fiscal Year 2020 bill for DHS<\/a>. It included numerous proposals that would have gutted immigration enforcement and reform. One amendment barred the DHS Secretary from using any appropriated funding to enforce or implement nine different immigration-related executive actions ordered by President Trump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If USCIS had to go through the same\nappropriations process for funding that DHS, Immigration and Customs\nEnforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) do, then it would\nmerely politicize the funding of another <\/em>immigration\nagency. This is true regardless of which party holds power in the House of\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any calls or suggestions for USCIS to transition to an appropriated funding model ignore the political nature of the budget process. Temporary funding may be necessary to bolster the agency now, but that will not always be the case. USCIS funding will return to normal once immigration levels rise after the end of the coronavirus crisis fades. Better yet, if immigration levels remain low, USCIS will adapt with the funding, tying their needs to the requisite level of immigration. Tying USCIS\u2019s funding to the whims of politicians will create future headaches for proponents of immigration reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is struggling. The agency that handles and processes all legal immigration into the country is running out of money. Why is that? It is because USCIS – uniquely – funds itself by levying fees on immigration applications, forms, and the like. With less immigration largely because of COVID-19, USCIS<\/p>\n

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