Even though President Biden has moved to Reverse Many of Trump's Anti-Immigration Policies, the Consequences of those Restrictive Measures linger, and have Contributed to a Massive Backlog of nearly 2.6 Million Visa Applications.
The Backlog includes nearly 500,000 Applicants who are "Documentarily Qualified" and ready for Interviews, according to a recent Legal Filing by the State Department. Backlogs in some Immigrant-Visa Categories are 50 or even 100 times Higher than they were Four years ago, at the Start of the Trump Administration.
Some of the Backlogs are due to Restrictions imposed in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. But some also spring from Pre-Pandemic Trump Policies or Actions that the Biden Administration hasn't Unwound.
The Biden administration is still Reviewing or hasn't Fully Reversed some Measures that Slow or Block Processing, such as Heightened Background Checks and Questionable Terrorism Designations.
In a Policy Reversal, last Thursday, the State Department said that in Places that are subject to Regional Pandemic Travel Restrictions, it will Now let People seeking Immigrant and Fiancee Visas go Ahead and Apply.
Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, determined that "it is in the national interest" to Exempt those Applicants from the Restrictions, a Spokesman said. Then, too, the Effects of a Trump-era Freeze on State Department Hiring have left its Consular Sections Short-Staffed. Meanwhile, Biden has come under fire from Democrats for Not, as of Friday, raising the Refugee Cap for this Fiscal year to 62,500, as his Administration proposed back in February. Biden also Proposed a Target Cap of 125,000 for the Fiscal year starting in October, up from Trump's 2020 Cap of 15,000, the Lowest Level ever.
At a briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, said that Biden remains Committed to Raising the Cap to 62,500 by the End of the Fiscal year, September 30th, but she did Not say when he'll do so.
Biden has Revoked Immigration Restrictions ranging from a Travel Ban targeting mostly Muslim-Majority Countries to, on April 1st, Reversing a Policy under which certain Asylum or Immigration Applications were Rejected if the Applicant had Left any Blank Spaces on their Forms. But Immigrants and Asylum Seekers are Discovering that the Effects of the Obstacles the Trump Administration Erected are likely to continue Choking the Flow into the U.S. of Legal Immigrants and Asylum Seekers well into Next Year.
Leon Rodriguez, who Served as Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from 2014 to 2017, said he thinks it will take the Biden Administration "a long time" to Return to or Surpass Pre-Trump Levels of Immigration and Refugee Admissions. "I don't think you've ever had ... as focused an effort on all fronts by the executive branch to reduce levels of immigration as you did from the Trump administration," he said.
Melanie Nezer, a Senior Vice President at HIAS, a Nonprofit that provides Humanitarian Aid and Assistance to Refugees, put it this way: "Picture a door like in New York City in the '70s, with a hundred locks. The Trump administration locked all those locks. The Biden administration has to find all those keys, unlock those locks, and they can't open the door until all that is done." The State Department said that "backlog numbers will continue to fluctuate" depending on Pandemic Conditions at various Embassies and Consulates, and on the Rate at which Homeland Security and U..S Citizenship and Immigration Services "approve additional petitions."
To understand the Challenges, consider the Visa Process. In March 2020, citing the Covid-19 Pandemic, the State Department Suspended Routine Visa Services at Embassies and Consulates around the World. The next month, Trump issued and Twice Extended a Proclamation Suspending the Entry of most Immigrants who didn't already have Valid Visas until March 31th, 2021. The State Department interpreted the Bar on Entry as also Stopping it from issuing most Immigrant Visas, according to Lawsuits against the Agency.
Although, by July, then-Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, began letting Consulates and Embassies Reopen for Limited Visa Operations at the Discretion of their Local Chiefs of Mission, most Stayed Closed for All but Emergency Services. For Security Reasons, "you can't adjudicate visas or passports from home," said Michele Thoren Bond, a former State Department Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs. "Anything passport, anything visa-related, you have to be in the office to do it; and to initiate visa cases you have to bring the applicants into the embassy for interviews, too. Even if you reopen, you can't let them come in the numbers that would have been normal, pre-Covid."
In Legal Filings, the State Department said that because of Illnesses and other Issues, after Pompeo gave Posts the Option to Reopen, that next month, August, more than Two Thirds of the 143 U.S. Consular Posts didn't Schedule a Single Immigrant visa Interview. Even by January, a Third of Consulates and Embassies still were Unable to schedule a Single Interview.
A look at Family-Preference Visas, which are issued to People seeking to join a Relative already in the U.S., show how hard the Pandemic Restrictions hit a System already Slowed by other Trump Administration moves. In February 2017, just after Trump took Office, there was a Backlog of 2,312 Family-Preference Visa Applications, according to Rebecca Austin, Assistant Director of the National Visa Center at the State Department. Each of the next Three years, that Backlog more than Doubled and Doubled again, reaching 26,737 by Feb. 8th, 2020. Then, due to the Pandemic Closures, by February 8th 2021, the Backlog leaped to nearly 285,000, she said in a Declaration to a Federal Court in California.
Documents filed in a Visa Lawsuit show that during January 2020, before the Pandemic, the State Department Scheduled 22,856 Family-Preference Visa Interviews, Worldwide. This past January 2021, it Scheduled 262, a Drop of nearly 99%. Immigration Attorneys in several Visa Lawsuits said the State Department continued to use Temporary Pandemic Bans on Entry from certain Regions as a Reason Not to issue Visas, even though a Federal Judge told the State Department, last September 2020 that Plaintiffs seeking to Overturn that Policy "are likely to succeed" in their Claim that it isn't in Accordance with Law. The Department Reversed that Policy for Immigrant and Fiancée Visa Applicants, Last Thursday.
The State Department said that "embassies and consulates are working to resume routine visa services on a location-by-location basis as expeditiously as possible in a safe manner," but that "We do not expect to be able to safely return to pre-pandemic workload levels until mid-2021 at the earliest." Officials said Health and Safety Measures would force them to "prioritize the most urgent and mission-critical cases" while Scheduling fewer Interviews than was Normal before the Pandemic.
Efforts to get back to Pre-Pandemic Visa levels face another Obstacle: Last fall, Pompeo Expanded a Pandemic Hiring Freeze on Consular Officers, saying that with Fewer People Traveling to the U.S., the State Department wouldn't need them. In January 2021, Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Department had about 1,000 Fewer Employees than it had at the sSart of the Trump Administration.
Because the Bureau of Consular Affairs relies mostly on Visa and Passport Fees to Fund its Operations, the State Department said that the Sharp Drop in Fee Revenue from the Pandemic "will have continuing effects on our staffing and available resources for several years, which means even when post-specific conditions improve, many posts will not be able to immediately return to pre-pandemic workload levels."
House and Senate Democrats have Proposed a Budget that would let the State Department hire about 1,200 New Foreign Service Officers, including Consular Officers. But even if that Budget is Adopted, Hiring and Training New Consular Officers can take a year and a half or Longer, especially for those Learning Challenging Languages. "It's a very, very big hole," said Bond, the Former Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs. "It is super challenging. You are not issuing library cards here, you have to examine every application, in many cases you have to interview the applicant ... there are checks that are being performed back in Washington; the whole interagency process, it is something that takes time."
State Department Visa Delays particularly worried those waiting to Get or Use Diversity Visas, up to 55,000 Immigration Visas a year that are Awarded by Lottery to Qualified People from Countries with Low Levels of Immigration to the U.S. Winning a Diversity Visa is always a Long Shot. In fiscal 2018 nearly 14.7 Million People Applied for the Lottery, giving each One odds of 1 in 267 of being Selected and then getting a Visa. By law, Diversity Visas Expire if they aren't Processed and Issued in the same Fiscal year. But as the Pandemic Closed U.S. Consular Sections, the Diversity-Visa Clock kept Ticking.
On February 24th, Biden Revoked parts of the Three Presidential Proclamations that had Blocked Entry of most Immigrants. The next day, the State Department announced it would Start Processing Immigrant Visa aAplications again, and that it would Reconsider Cases of those who Qualified for Visas but had been Denied because of the Trump-era Proclamations.
Thousands of Immigrant Visa Applicants from One Country Face yet another Holdover Obstacle. An April 2019 Trump Presidential Proclamation declared the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be a Terrorist Organization. That Proclamation which the Biden Administration has Not, so far, Revisited, Bars Anyone who's Served in the Revolutionary Guards from being Granted a U.S. Visa. Iran makes Military Service Compulsory for Men and Conscientious Objection isn't allowed. Men who Don't Serve aren't allowed to Marry, get Passports, or to hold most Jobs. Men have No choice in what Military Branch they're assigned to, including the Revolutionary Guards.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
