Letter to House Judiciary Committee on delays of I-130

[Salo&Romashka 83]

Newer version: I fixed spelling errors and removed the quote from former the DHS Secretary as it was related to DACA. The text of this letter won't fit on one page as is in 12 point font. The footnotes and signature are spilling over. Any ideas?

November 19, 2013

Mr. Chairman:

Due to the failure of executive leadership at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the average national processing time for I-130 petitions for immediate relatives of US Citizens has increased to 13 months. I have found that contrary to its stated core values of Integrity, Respect, and Ingenuity, USCIS is ignoring delegated legal responsibilities, mistreating US citizen families, and purposely accruing case backlogs. I am writing you with the hope that the House Judiciary Committee will realize the need to take swift action to remedy the failures of leadership at USCIS.

The I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, is the first step immediate relatives of US Citizens must complete in order to obtain legal resident visas. Approved beneficiaries still must be vetted by the National Visa Center as well as embassies and consulates around the world before a visa is issued. Bureaucratic delays have directly affected adjudication of petitions for which there is no statutory limitation. 201(b)(2)(A)(i) [8 U.S.C. 1151] Working for family unification should be the first priority of all USCIS decisions.

Despite pilot programs and workload transfers tried in the past, USCIS has never been able to provide I-130 petitioners a transparent process or definite processing times for immediate relative petitions. Documents obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request show that since September 17, 2012 USCIS has taken adjudicators off the processing of I-130 petitions at USCIS service centers (California, Texas, Vermont) and designated all petitions to be routed through the National Benefits Center.¹ This decision was made knowing that the National Benefits Center was not properly staffed to adjudicate I-130 petitions and was made without a definite timeframe to resume work. Multiple requests for assistance made to Congressmen and Senators by petitioners have shown that USCIS still has no definite timeframe for adjudication of pending I-130 petitions.

According to the most recent USCIS I-130 Petition Performance report, the National Benefits Center completed the processing of only 2,755 petitions in the first two quarters of the 2013 Fiscal Year (October 2012-March 2013). In the same reporting period, the National Benefits Center received 254,890 petitions and has now accrued a backlog of 523,874 pending cases.² I believe the few petitions that the National Benefits managed to process to be limited to expedited cases. Despite announcements of USCIS efforts to dedicate staff to process I-130 petitions in Overland Park, KS, USCIS has failed to train or re-assign staff needed to process this caseload in a timely manner.³ After a year of indecision, the I-130 workload is only now being transferred from the National Benefits Center to regional service centers.⁴

If USCIS Processing tables are correct, there are pending I-130 petitions with priority dates as old as October 1, 2012 which have yet to be processed.⁵ As far back as 2006, the USCIS Ombudsman advised against the accrual of backlogs as “...there are substantial costs involved in storing and retrieving applications as well as the resources expended for follow-ups, customer inquiries, address changes, etc."⁶ These financial costs, however, will never compare to the human cost of lost time with loved ones separated by USCIS' continuing inefficiency.

I request that the House Judiciary Committee investigates the needless backlog of pending I-130 Immediate Relative Petitions and direct USCIS to re-evaluate its current adjudication priorities.

Sincerely,

Name Surname

¹http://www.scribd.com/doc/145514197/2013-HQFO-00304-Combined-Redacted-Part1

²http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/Employment-based/I130_performancedata_fy2013_qtr2.pdf

³http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2013/May%202013/NBC-AILA-QA-2013-05-01.pdf

⁴http://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/workload-transfer-national-benefits-center-service-centers

⁵https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processingTimesDisplay.do

⁶http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/CISOmbudsman_AnnualReport_2006.pdf

[palu 23]

All are good efforts as far asI am concerned and I thank everyone. I do think that the most important thing is the number of vjers who will get the faxes and emails out. I am going to dig and try to find as many media sources that might be willing to listen as I can. They carry a lot of weight.

By the way, does anyone have a fax number for Bob Goodlatte that works? 202-225-7680 has been kicked back twice on me. Yes, I messed up and started sending faxes a week early! .

[Nodir 10]

Let's try it.

[Nodir 10]

Can we email it on 11/19? What is their email address?

[naam_2013 72]

All are good efforts as far asI am concerned and I thank everyone. I do think that the most important thing is the number of vjers who will get the faxes and emails out. I am going to dig and try to find as many media sources that might be willing to listen as I can. They carry a lot of weight.

By the way, does anyone have a fax number for Bob Goodlatte that works? 202-225-7680 has been kicked back twice on me. Yes, I messed up and started sending faxes a week early! .

I will call Bob's office tomorrow and ask for the fax number.

Thanks for supporting this cause.

[carrycaroline 0]

IAM IN

Cheap Nike Free

[Blueberry Pancake 311]

The letter looks good! Good job, people

Let's keep fighting. If it won't help us... it might help those who file later on.

At the end of the day- it's worth it.

[Salo&Romashka 83]

My final edit. I have been researching writ of mandamus cases and decided to add US law often cited. Today I was hoping that USCIS would publish more current processing times as they should on or around the 15th of each month. Of course, that didn't happen. Should that information become available before the 19th the attached .doc can be edited. If you are a I-130 petitioner that has been waiting more than 6 months it is your own interest to start making noise. When the wheels of justice grind to a halt, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Feel free to use everything here when writing Congressmen and Senators, too. The first sentence of the letter can be omitted and be sent by family and friends who want to do something to help.

November 19, 2013

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte

Chairman

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Mr. Chairman:

I am a Petitioner with an I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, pending at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). I am writing you with great concern that the average national processing time for I-130 petitions for immediate relatives of United States citizens has increased to 13 months. Contrary to its stated core values of Integrity, Respect, and Ingenuity, USCIS is ignoring delegated legal responsibilities, mistreating United States citizen families, and purposely accruing case backlogs in violation of [5 U.S.C. § 555(b)], which requires that “[w]ith due regard for the convenience and necessity of the parties or their representatives and within a reasonable time, each agency shall proceed to conclude a matter presented to it.” Detailed below is evidence proving the need for House Judiciary Committee action to remedy the failures of leadership at USCIS.

The I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, is the first step immediate relatives of United States citizens must complete in order to obtain legal resident visas. Approved beneficiaries still must be vetted by the National Visa Center as well as by embassies and consulates around the world before a visa is issued. Multiple bureaucratic delays and workload transfers have directly affected adjudication of petitions for which there is no statutory limitation. [8 U.S.C. § 1151] 201(b)(2)(A)(i)

USCIS has shown unwillingness to provide I-130 Immediate Relative petitioners a transparent process or definite processing times for immediate relative petitions. Inquiries made by Congressmen and Senators on the behalf petitioners have proven that USCIS has no definite timeframe for adjudication of pending I-130 Immediate Relative petitions. Also, documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request indicate that since September 17, 2012 USCIS has taken adjudicators off the processing of I-130 Immediate Relative petitions at USCIS service centers and designated all petitions to be routed through the National Benefits Center. This decision was made knowing that the National Benefits Center was not properly staffed to adjudicate I-130 Immediate Relative petitions and was made without a definite timeframe to resume work.¹ Despite announcements of USCIS efforts to dedicate staff to process I-130 Immediate Relative petitions in Overland Park, KS, it is evident that it has failed to train or re-assign staff needed to process this caseload in a timely manner.² After a year of indecision, only now some I-130 Immediate Relative petitions are being transferred from the National Benefits Center to regional service centers.³

According to the most recent USCIS I-130 Petition Performance report, the National Benefits Center completed the processing of only 2,755 I-130 Immediate Relative petitions in the first two quarters of the 2013 Fiscal Year (October 2012-March 2013). In the same reporting period, the National Benefits Center received 254,890 I-130 Immediate Relative petitions and has now accrued a backlog of 523,874 pending cases.⁴ If USCIS processing tables are correct, there are pending I-130 Immediate Relative petitions with priority dates as old as October 1, 2012 which have yet to be processed.⁵ This date is appalling considering Congress outlined what should be considered a reasonable processing time in The Immigration Services and Infrastructure Improvements Act of 2000. There Congress stated, “t is the sense of Congress that the processing of an immigration benefit application should be completed not later than 180 days after the initial filing of the application.” [8 U.S.C. § 1571]

Through its actions USCIS chooses to disregard the plight of separated families but it can not disregard the law. I request that the House Judiciary Committee investigates the needless backlog of pending I-130 Immediate Relative petitions and direct USCIS to re-evaluate its current adjudication priorities.

Sincerely,

Name Surname

1 http://www.scribd.com/doc/145514197/2013-HQFO-00304-Combined-Redacted-Part1 Pages 38-50

2 http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes from Previous Engagements/2013/May 2013/NBC-AILA-QA-2013-05-01.pdf

3 http://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/workload-transfer-national-benefits-center-service-centers

4 http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports and Studies/Immigration Forms Data/Employment-based/I130_performancedata_fy2013_qtr2.pdf

5 https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processingTimesDisplay.do Accessed November 15, 2013

Letter-To-Judiciary-Committee-I-130-Petitions.doc

[thedude6752000 360]

Great work!

[lucybelle 453]

What's the email to send to? I'm recruiting friends and family to send the email as well.

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

Great work. Ignore all those being negative earlier in the thread, it's worth a try and if it is too late to help us but will help others in the future then it's still worth doing. All it costs is our time, and we all have more of that than we want because we are apart from our spouses. Is anyone a member of the other immigration websites? Ideally we could reach out to other I-130 filers too. I read somewhere that less than 10% of filers join VJ so there must be a huge amount of frustrated people out there who could get involved.

[lucybelle 453]

So can someone confirm for me please- this is where we will be sending the letter: http://goodlatte.house.gov/contacts/new

But we can also send it to the others listed?

ie: alejandro.mayorkas@dhs.gov

alejandro.mayorkas@hq.dhs.gov

uscisfrcomments@dhs.gov

Lori.Scialabba@dhs.gov

Lori.Scialabba@hq.dhs.gov

cisombudsman@dhs.gov

maria.m.odom@dhs.gov

maria.m.odom@hq.dhs.gov

brandi.blackburn@uscis.dhs.gov

rand.beers@hq.dhs.gov

letters@washpost.com

executive@aila.org

newsroom@aila.org

[ah24 11]

Can the beneficiaries send the e-mail too?

[naam_2013 72]

So can someone confirm for me please- this is where we will be sending the letter: http://goodlatte.house.gov/contacts/new

But we can also send it to the others listed?

ie: alejandro.mayorkas@dhs.gov

alejandro.mayorkas@hq.dhs.gov

uscisfrcomments@dhs.gov

Lori.Scialabba@dhs.gov

Lori.Scialabba@hq.dhs.gov

cisombudsman@dhs.gov

maria.m.odom@dhs.gov

maria.m.odom@hq.dhs.gov

brandi.blackburn@uscis.dhs.gov

rand.beers@hq.dhs.gov

letters@washpost.com

executive@aila.org

newsroom@aila.org

We are sending this to Bob Goodlatte and all those you listed here.

You can email it to Bob Goodlatte using the website you listed above.

I called the office of House Judiciary committee on Friday to verify the fax number and they told me the same: 202-225-7680; if this does not work, I suggest you fax the letter to the office of Bob Goodlatte: 202-225-9681.

Thanks.

[naam_2013 72]

Can the beneficiaries send the e-mail too?

Definitely, and not only beneficiaries, but also friends and family.

I have already lined up some friends and family members to send this letter; so please ask your family and friends to join this cause.