USCIS lays off over 1000 contractors due to financial shortfalls

[PhillyNatz 39]

This means also means any interview scheduling will be halted, and this will have a domino effect with other offices cutting back on contract staff.

Edited May 24, 2020 by PhillyNatz

[DSOTM1973 52]

5 hours ago, PhillyNatz said:

This means also means any interview scheduling will be halted, and this will have a domino effect with other offices cutting back on contract staff.

Interview are scheduled automatically in the system based on offices. laying off people has nothing to do with that. Also, if it is said to be true that they are having less applications, less people should not really change the processing time, considering we all in peace now with the long wait time

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by DSOTM1973

[DSOTM1973 52]

It will be interesting to see the Q2 data statistics to see the reduction of Applications received if that is the case.

Either way, The federal government rather have people rely on social programs and not work than bail the USCIS to keep people working. They can't touch the money they diverge to ICE, and increasing fees now will not change much since there is no travel, so it does make sense to lay off people as you already have 30M people lost their jobs in the country. Those jobs are more or less temporary lost jobs that will be recovered once we get back to normal (if we go back to normal), so I doubt anyone will fund USCIS for the foreseeable future, and should really expect more labor layoffs within USCIS as immigrants applications are really not a priority to them

 

[PhillyNatz 39]

35 minutes ago, DSOTM1973 said:

Interview are scheduled automatically in the system based on offices. laying off people has nothing to do with that. Also, if it is said to be true that they are having less applications, less people should not really change the processing time, considering we all in peace now with the long wait time

 

What do you think these 1,000 people did then. 
 

They are responsible for scheduling, file movement and more. They were also the people on site in the offices because regular employees were working from home. 

Edited May 24, 2020 by PhillyNatz

[DSOTM1973 52]

1 minute ago, PhillyNatz said:

What do you think these 1,000 people did then. 

Maybe clerks, maybe admin work, maybe officers? maybe Interns? maybe all?  It is not clear since USCIS hire more than immigration officers. Maybe they are government contractors too? Since layoffs full-time require some pension. It is not clear if they were full or part time. Either way, everyone is getting layoffs, or furlough. From a business stand point, they had to layoff people to save money. It is not nice, but then again, there are +30M lost jobs, and way more than that got pay reduction, including myself.

We are just angry because it impact our immigration process, but generally, It is not surprising, and it is really what they had to do to keep going. Nothing is normal, nothing is okay, the economy is falling, so it is what it is.

We don't agree with the USCIS but they are not ran by some idiots, I am sure they know what they are doing, and they think they can keep everything going with less people so they can afford they payroll

[PhillyNatz 39]

40 minutes ago, DSOTM1973 said:

Maybe clerks, maybe admin work, maybe officers? maybe Interns? maybe all?  It is not clear since USCIS hire more than immigration officers. Maybe they are government contractors too? Since layoffs full-time require some pension. It is not clear if they were full or part time. Either way, everyone is getting layoffs, or furlough. From a business stand point, they had to layoff people to save money. It is not nice, but then again, there are +30M lost jobs, and way more than that got pay reduction, including myself.

We are just angry because it impact our immigration process, but generally, It is not surprising, and it is really what they had to do to keep going. Nothing is normal, nothing is okay, the economy is falling, so it is what it is.

We don't agree with the USCIS but they are not ran by some idiots, I am sure they know what they are doing, and they think they can keep everything going with less people so they can afford they payroll

I don’t think the debate here is why the layoffs happened, assuming the 61% projection holds true (and it remains that -a projection for which there seems to be no explanation). 
 

The conversation is more around the delays, and a reduction of 80% of the staff at the most important processing center for N400 and 485 Applications will absolutely cause delays.  
 

I think someone posted that the processing times at Houston is almost 4 years! That’s how Ludicrous the situation is today. 

Edited May 24, 2020 by PhillyNatz

[DSOTM1973 52]

19 minutes ago, PhillyNatz said:

I don’t think the debate here is why the layoffs happened, assuming the 61% projection holds true (and it remains that -a projection for which there seems to be no explanation). 
 

The conversation is more around the delays, and a reduction of 80% of the staff at the most important processing center for N400 and 485 Applications will absolutely cause delays.  
 

I think someone posted that the processing times at Houston is almost 4 years! That’s how Ludicrous the situation is today. 

I am not disagreeing with you in the essence, however, those 1000 layoffs are not solely immigration officers, it is more likely mostly are front office people, and few officers considering how hard it is for them hire and train officers, so there is no way to know how those layoffs impact processing time as we don't know who left. 

 

Processing time is subjective and depending on the person. There is no such thing as 4 years unless you are the black sheep. That one person who get lost in the system. If you call, they will tell you 36-42 months, but if you flip through the sections, you will see people getting approved everyday in HOU within normal processing time. USCIS tracking and processing time is a myth, no one knows how it works. 

 

IMO, delaying I-485 might be the best thing to happen to USCIS since the invention of PC. Let them take longer to process, get more people unrestricted cards, and reduce the burden of I-751. 

 

N-400 on the other hand, It will always be priority for them, but then again, most of the adjudicating happen in local offices, so service centers layoffs shouldn't be that impactful ( I am assuming)? Local offices are already backlogged and with the closure, it make sense that we will see more wait for interviews unless they go back to pre 2016 and cancel some interview requirements to get everything going

 

Then again, we are just guessing, neither them nor we can estimate how everything will play out once we get back to normal as again in their books, immigrants are not important, you know .

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by DSOTM1973

[PhillyNatz 39]

17 minutes ago, DSOTM1973 said:

I am not disagreeing with you in the essence, however, those 1000 layoffs are not solely immigration officers, it is more likely mostly are front office people, and few officers considering how hard it is for them hire and train officers, so there is no way to know how those layoffs impact processing time as we don't know who left. 

 

Processing time is subjective and depending on the person. There is no such thing as 4 years unless you are the black sheep. That one person who get lost in the system. If you call, they will tell you 36-42 months, but if you flip through the sections, you will see people getting approved everyday in HOU within normal processing time. USCIS tracking and processing time is a myth, no one knows how it works. 

 

IMO, delaying I-485 might be the best thing to happen to USCIS since the invention of PC. Let them take longer to process, get more people unrestricted cards, and reduce the burden of I-751. 

 

N-400 on the other hand, It will always be priority for them, but then again, most of the adjudicating happen in local offices, so service centers layoffs shouldn't be that impactful ( I am assuming)? Local offices are already backlogged and with the closure, it make sense that we will see more wait for interviews unless they go back to pre 2016 and cancel some interview requirements to get everything going

 

Then again, we are just guessing, neither them nor we can estimate how everything will play out once we get back to normal as again in their books, immigrants are not important, you know .

 

Yes, I do think we are saying the same thing, but there's certain nuances I think we have to consider.

 

Yes, 4 years in the upper end, but it's not the for the 'black sheep' - remember everything up to the upper bound is for 93% of the cases - not jut the person who gets lost in the system, That's where the remaining 7% fall, which is more than 4 years.

 

So 43% of the cases take 2 years and upto 4 years in Houston - that's not normal and certainly not the person who gets lost in the system. Even if you argue that 4 years is an anomaly, which it certainly doesn't look like it because Dallas is 3 1/2 years, 2+ years is not normal.

 

It can't be an anomaly - it's not a count of average processing time to skew the data.

 

Even if the 1,000 people were not adjudicating, there's so much other work that goes on, and these are the people working in the office while the employees work from home. Think about your office and you had 80% of the staff reduced, even for lower level resources.

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by PhillyNatz

[Greenbaum 12,259]

15 hours ago, Lazybones18 said:

Government can bail out banks and airlines but not uscis 

 

Makes sense since this govt agenda has been to limit immigration 

 

 

 

Let's turn this around. Banks and airlines can downsize but the government can't? Mmmmm.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

1 hour ago, fishbowltx said:

Banks and Airlines can be bailed out by the people but the government can't be bailed out? Mmmmmm

 

The notion that tax money should be further channeled to private entities but not government entities is absurd. If the argument is that USCIS doesn't serve a majority of the American people then neither does American Airlines. American Airlines can collapse, and there will 5 other carries ready to fill that void.

That is not the case with Government.

The government is not a good steward of the American People's money. That's been proven repeatedly.

[user555 196]

20 hours ago, Lazybones18 said:

Government can bail out banks and airlines but not uscis 

 

Makes sense since this govt agenda has been to limit immigration 

 

 

USCIS and NBC aren't in debt yet. They don't need a bailout. If they kept these 1,000 contractors, then it's possible they would go into debt. If you read the article, it says it's a fee based organization. If people are applying and paying fees, USCIS is able to operate with employees and contractors. If applications drop, the money coming in drops, and they can keep the employees but have to let the contractors go. If applications start increasing, guess who is going to be hired again? The contractors that were just laid off. 

[PhillyNatz 39]

5 minutes ago, user555 said:

USCIS and NBC aren't in debt yet. They don't need a bailout. If they kept these 1,000 contractors, then it's possible they would go into debt. If you read the article, it says it's a fee based organization. If people are applying and paying fees, USCIS is able to operate with employees and contractors. If applications drop, the money coming in drops, and they can keep the employees but have to let the contractors go. If applications start increasing, guess who is going to be hired again? The contractors that were just laid off. 

What are you talking about - they literally just asked congress for a bailout.

Edited May 25, 2020 by PhillyNatz

[Zsazsa 249]

On 5/24/2020 at 7:00 PM, Greenbaum said:

Let's turn this around. Banks and airlines can downsize but the government can't? Mmmmm.

Hey @Greenbaum

 

question for you - seeing as you’ve provided reliable and sound advice to me in the past...

 

My EAD expedite was approved 2 weeks ago. Just the expedite was approved so far, not the actual EAD. Employment starts June 8th and I am desperate to get this pushed before then. I run the risk of forfeiting the job offer without proper approval before then. Any suggestions? 
 

thanks in advance!

[Greenbaum 12,259]

7 hours ago, Zsazsa said:

Hey @Greenbaum

 

question for you - seeing as you’ve provided reliable and sound advice to me in the past...

 

My EAD expedite was approved 2 weeks ago. Just the expedite was approved so far, not the actual EAD. Employment starts June 8th and I am desperate to get this pushed before then. I run the risk of forfeiting the job offer without proper approval before then. Any suggestions? 
 

thanks in advance!

Call USCIS for current processing for your personal case. See if you can get to a tier two representative as they are more willing and have more information to help. Good luck and stay engaged. 

[user555 196]

On 5/25/2020 at 11:40 AM, PhillyNatz said:

What are you talking about - they literally just asked congress for a bailout.

Your title is misleading and false. USCIS did not lay off anyone. They talked about a potential layoff for some contractors and it did not occur. Those 1,000 contractors were not laid off on May 29. USCIS has around 20,000 employees and contractors with a budget of a little more than $4 billion per year. They were requesting a loan of $600 million per year. A bailout is usually used for a bankruptcy. Again, they are not in debt or facing bankruptcy. The article mentions that USCIS does not want to take drastic actions. What would actions be? Furloughing employees. They don't want to do that. If applications drop by a certain amount, they don't need as many employees. Once applications pick back up again, they can bring the employees back. They want a loan so they don't have to furlough some of their employees.