Policy Briefs

AILA Policy Brief: USCIS Processing Delays Have Reached Crisis Levels Under the Trump Administration

1/30/19 AILA Doc. No. 19012834.

This analysis of recently published U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data reveals crisis-level delays in the agency's processing of applications and petitions for immigration benefits under the Trump administration. The brief examines how those delays harm families, vulnerable individuals, and U.S. businesses; how current USCIS policies lengthen, rather than mitigate, slowdowns; and what steps USCIS and Congress can take to remedy this case processing crisis.

On February 12, 2019, members of Congress cited this policy brief in a letter to USCIS Director Lee Francis Cissna to highlight the impact of the agency's processing delays on families, U.S. businesses, and vulnerable populations.

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 19012834.