In June of this year, the USCIS Ombudsman released its annual report, where it “details the urgent systemic issues affecting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services… and identifies potential solutions to resolve these problems.” This year, the agency’s various backlogs loom large in the 120-page report. Making progress on those backlogs has been difficult for various reasons, including the state of the world: “Global upheaval, political confrontations, and climate issues created populations in need of temporary protection, and the United States took on its share of assistance to these populations.” While the Ombudsman applauds the Biden Administration’s efforts to help those in need, it notes that other asylum seekers and immigrants have been harmed by diverting resources that might otherwise have been available to complete their cases.
To be honest, I have avoided reading the report until now because it is simply too depressing. We know the basic problem: Too many people and not enough resources. We also know that Congress–which controls the nation’s purse strings–is not likely to approve any additional funding, especially while the House of Representatives remains in Republican hands.
As I reviewed the report, I found myself feeling some sympathy for USCIS, which is being asked to do too much with too little. But the key word in that last sentence is “some,” as I also feel that–at least with regards to affirmative asylum cases–the agency has utterly failed to take bold and creative steps to alleviate the ever-increasing backlog.
Here, we’ll discuss the Ombudsman’s findings and try to explicate what is happening at one of the U.S. government’s most troubled agencies. (more…)
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