USCIS warns that the waiting time to obtain visas and immigration permits is going to be long

By NBC News and The Associated Press

The US agency in charge of processing immigration applications announced Tuesday that it has canceled its plan to give 70% of its staff unpaid leave but warned that it still faces financial difficulties that could result in some applicants experiencing longer wait times.

The Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is in charge of processing work permits, permanent residences ( green cards ) and other visas, announced that it has canceled its plan to put 130,000 employees on leave without pay. , which was to become effective on August 30.

"Unprecedented spending cuts" and an increase in revenues allowed the agency to cancel the layoffs, but that there will be longer waits and greater delays, which will affect applications for work permits, permanent residence and naturalization, USCIS explained in a statement.

The agency, whose budget of about $ 4.8 billion depends almost entirely on the fees for new immigration applications, reported that its income from that concept fell by 50 percent in June due to lower immigration by the COVID-19.

Immigration experts and former officials say that even before the pandemic started, the agency had seen revenues drop dramatically as a result of slowing down processing and other limits placed on immigration applications.

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USCIS Deputy Director of Policy Joseph Edlow warned in the statement that there is no guarantee that the agency will not issue future unpaid leave and asked Congress to ensure sufficient funding is in place for fiscal year 2021, which begins. in October.

"Avoiding the layoff of personnel is done at a severe operating cost that will increase delays and waiting times in all processes, with no guarantees that we can avoid future licenses", warned Edlow, "a return to normal operating procedures would require a Congressional intervention to sustain the agency in 2021 ”.

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USCIS requested a $ 1.2 billion ransom from Congress in May to avoid the planned unpaid leave, but lawmakers rejected its request, arguing that the agency had the funds necessary to continue operations during the fiscal year.

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For now, it will maintain its operations until the end of September, when the current fiscal year ends.

Starting on October 2, the agency, which ceased operations for two months due to the coronavirus, will increase the fees it charges by 20% on average and will eliminate some payment exemptions, including those that benefit applicants for asylum.

Meanwhile, the ban on non-essential travel from Mexico amid the pandemic has created huge bottlenecks at the border, with some motorists saying they have waited up to 10 hours to enter the United States.

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An American who works for a company that supports businesses with operations in Mexico observed the long lines from his home in Tijuana, Mexico. He said he lined up at midnight to be on time for his shift that started at 8 a.m. in San Diego and was still 90 minutes late.

"I hope this is just an initial adjustment and that it will be a little more streamlined in the future," said Ross Baldwin, the man's boss and who is president of the company TACNA Services Inc.

The partial ban that the Trump administration introduced in March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus does not prevent the entry of people with US nationality or who have legal residence. Going to work, school or medical appointments are considered essential trips, but shopping, eating or socializing are not.

Andrea Casillas, who works at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in San Diego and lives in Tijuana because it is less expensive, waited four hours to enter the United States on Monday.

"There is a price to pay [for traveling from Mexico], but it should be reasonable," Casillas said, "this is going too far."

The measures came after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it reviewed about 100,000 travelers coming from Mexico by car or on foot and found that 63% of U.S. citizens or people with residence They traveled for non-essential issues.

On Friday, CBP began reassigning staff at 14 larger border crossings in California, Arizona, and Texas so people can get in faster in the mornings during business days, when there is a greater amount of essential travel, causing huge queues on weekends.

On Tuesday, traffic was unusually light, with passersby wearing masks and keeping a short distance from each other. Waiting times are expected to increase on the weekend or at weeknight, affecting people who go to the beach or restaurants. Waits increased at the border last weekend and California crossings were hit the hardest.

The measures do not apply at the border with Canada, which is also subject to the ban on nonessential travel. Air travel has not been affected.

The lines that wound through the streets of Tijuana this past weekend were the longest residents have seen, posing trouble for motorists desperate to go to the bathroom.

Tijuana police said some people ran out of gas. An 87-year-old woman died Sunday of a heart attack in her vehicle while waiting to go through the nation's busiest border crossing, in San Diego.

People who were stuck in traffic aired their annoyance on social media, posting photos and videos taken from their cars. One of them, Yair Melendrez, said he waited five hours to cross to get to work on Monday.

They make "the slowest crossing with the motive of despairing all those people who go on vacations or who make non-essential trips," he said in a text message, "The bad thing about all this is that we who are going to work it hurts a lot! ".

Anne Maricich, deputy director of CBP field operations in San Diego, said the wait in California peaked at six hours according to the agency's tally. Witnesses reported longer waits.

Taco vendor Christian Mendoza said a customer who served Monday morning told him that he waited seven hours. CBP officials believe the weekday jam was a holdover from the weekend. The lines were so short Tuesday that Mendoza didn't sell a single taco in three hours.

Before the pandemic, about 200,000 people entered the United States each day at California crossings with Mexico, according to CBP. The daily average fell to about 70,000 people after the ban was implemented in March, but has since risen to about 120,000.

CBP is under pressure to ease restrictions as border economies that depend on Mexican consumers are increasingly affected. The US Representative for Texas, Henry Cuellar, said that downtown Laredo, which is in his district, is "a ghost town."

Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, said that 13% of businesses in the area surrounding the San Diego-Tijuana crossing have closed permanently and those that are open have had their income reduced. more than half.

Wells said that "arbitrary border restrictions and punitive actions against those who do not fit a whimsical definition of 'essential' are doing more harm than good."

CBP underscored public health considerations: "We need people to think twice about non-essential travel and wonder if it is worth risking their lives and the lives of others," said spokesman Rusty Payne.

Christopher Landau, the US ambassador to Mexico, emphasized that many people cross the border to visit relatives, go shopping or restaurants.

"This irresponsible attitude is aggravating the health crisis," he tweeted.

CBP works with business groups and California health officials to minimize the impact, Maricich said.

"It is a very difficult balance at the moment," he said.