I-130 Workload Transfer Linked to DACA - FOIA Finding

[Salo&Romashka 83]

Tonight I found Freedom of Information Act documents obtained by Judicial Watch, Inc. that include correspondence between USCIS employees detailing the planned changes to I-130 processing as a result of DACA. I-130 related documents begin on page 39 of the link. Most of the emails have been copied here:

From: Dooley, Sharon V

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 2:18 PM

To: Borges, Luis R; Goudge, Laurie A; Kenney, Trudy L; Schweich, Margaret A; Porche, Sheri L (CTR);Moris, Louis J

Cc: # SPM ISO

Subject: FW: I130s to the field

Importance: High

Due to the volume of DACA work at the Service Center, it has been determined that the field will be sent I-130’s to adjudicate. We should get immediate relatives only. I do not know how many we will receive but we could see them as early as the week of 9/17/12. The field will be responsible forrequesting the A-files. Please let me know when you start receiving them in the mailroom.

Thanks,

Sharon Dooley

Sharon Dooley Field Office DirectorU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Saint Paul

The St. Paul Field office has been overwhelmed since according to the USCIS tracker:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=4&office=57&charttype=1

From: Garman, Gary G

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 12:56 PM

To: Adams, Kim; Adams, Raymond P; Bard, Jodi; Blakeway, Albert W; Coates, Timothy S; Connor,William; Conway, Michael J; Dedvukaj, Mick; Dooley, Sharon V; Douglas, David M; Enis, Jill S; Hamilton,Ricky W; Hansen, Mark B; Heathman, Sandy M; Kehl, Lisa M; Kent, Jeanne M; Klinger, Michael J;Lambrecht, Andrew M; Lee, Kamsing V; Leopold, Kay F; Lopez, Antonio; Loutas, Aphrodite G; Mather,Robert B; McNeer, Laura K; Medina-Maltes, Martha E; Moyer, Chester S; Mueller-Cantu, Elaine M;Olivares, Jose R; Ortiz, Mario R; Perry, Michelle C; Pietropaoli, Lori A; Pratt, Caroline R; Reynolds, PattiJ; Sheive, Kristy A; Siegl, Mark T; Stark, Laura; Tarango, Tracy; Tasch, Helaine S; Verderosa, GeoffreyJ; Webb, Russell L; Zarybnicky, Kenneth A

Cc: Cowan, Robert M; Brecht, Jeffery T; Gallagher, Kevin E; Langton, Lynn M; Hawthorne, Thomas E;Dyer, LaToya S; Smith, John H; Robinson, Terri A

Subject: RE: I130s to the field

This just in: Since the NBC will only serve as a “pass through” it will be up to each field office to request any relating A files for these cases. It is our understanding that the field should only receive immediate relative I-130s from SCOPS. Let us know if that is not the case.

Regards,

Gary Garman|Associate Regional Director, Operations|

DHS|USCIS|Central Regional Office

More

From: Garman, Gary G

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 12:09 PM

To: Adams, Kim; Adams, Raymond P; Bard, Jodi; Blakeway, Albert W; Coates, Timothy S; Connor,William; Conway, Michael J; Dedvukaj, Mick; Dooley, Sharon V; Douglas, David M; Enis, Jill S; Garman,Gary G; Hamilton, Ricky W; Hansen, Mark B; Heathman, Sandy M; Kehl, Lisa M; Kent, Jeanne M;Klinger, Michael J; Lambrecht, Andrew M; Lee, Kamsing V; Leopold, Kay F; Lopez, Antonio; Loutas, Aphrodite G; Mather, Robert B; McNeer, Laura K; Medina-Maltes, Martha E; Moyer, Chester S; Mueller-Cantu, Elaine M; Olivares, Jose R; Ortiz, Mario R; Perry, Michelle C; Pietropaoli, Lori A; Pratt, Caroline R;Reynolds, Patti J; Sheive, Kristy A; Siegl, Mark T; Stark, Laura; Tarango, Tracy; Tasch, Helaine S; Verderosa, Geoffrey J; Webb, Russell L; Zarybnicky, Kenneth A

Cc: Cowan, Robert M; Brecht, Jeffery T; Gallagher, Kevin E; Langton, Lynn M; Hawthorne, Thomas E; Dyer, LaToya S; Smith, John H; Robinson, Terri A

Subject: FW: I130s to the field

Field Leadership: FYI. We just received this update regarding the shipment of I-130s to the field. More to follow once the NBC publishes their timeline for this work. As you may recall, this work istransitioning from the Service Centers to the field as a result of the deferred action for childhood arrivals process. RISO Thomas Hawthorne is available should you have any questions or concerns.

Regards,

Gary Garman|Associate Regional Director, Operations|DHS|USCIS|Central Regional Office

More

From: Robinson, Terri A

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 9:44 AM

To: Goodwin, Shelley M; Garman, Gary G; Woo, Ellen Y; Dean, Kimberly D; Muzyka, Carolyn L;Redman, Kathy A; Cowan, Robert M; Renaud, Tracy L

Cc: Blackwood, Robert L; Limon, Norma A; Clum, Teresa; Fite, Kenneth M; Tauchen, Robert B; Wright,John L; Campagnolo, Donna P; Monica, Donald J; Harrison, Julia L

Subject: RE: I130s to the field

All,

Shelley asked a good question below, so I am taking the liberty to expand the audience to inform all the Regions at the same time. We received our first I-130 shipment from SCOPS late last week. We are in the process of ensuring they are all relocated properly and manifesting them for distribution. ******************************************* (b) (5)*********************************************. We have committed to providing the Regions with a report prior to any shipments going out that will identify the volumes by FCO. Additionally the shipments will have a manifest associated in their individual shipments.

Please let me know if you have any questions on the current plan. Also, I promised in Boston toget you a timeline of sorts to help with communicating with the field and that is still in the works.

Thanks as always for your patience.

Terri Robinson

Acting Center Director USCIS, National Benefits Center

From: Dooley, Sharon V

To: # SPM ISO

Subject: FW: Message to Field Offices on NBC Workloads & Modified Processes

Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 2:07:45 PM

Attachments: image001.jpg

Importance: High

Please see the following information which describes the workload shift from the NBC to the field. NBC is seeking to bring on additional staff to assist with their increased workload due to DACA. As they gain more staff, the NBC will resume its current case preparation processes and take back the adjudication of the stand-alone IR I-130 petitions. The timeframe that they will resume this work is unknown at this time.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Sharon Dooley

Sharon Dooley

Field Office Director

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Saint Paul

It seems the National Benefits Center couldn't complete background checks fast enough for some cases so they changed the screening process:

From: Gallagher, Kevin E

Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 7:28 AM

To: Douglas, David M; Dooley, Sharon V

Cc: Garman, Gary G

Subject: FW: Message to Field Offices on NBC Workloads & Modified Processes

Good morning all,

This forwarded message deals with the e-mail string this morning titled DDDouglas is correct, the Lean & Light NBC process is due to the workload shift. The below e-mailstring details what we are to expect due to the modified process. Hits will be sent to the field without resolution for both AOS I-485 and N400 cases.

Kevin E. Gallagher|Assistant Regional Director, Adjudications|DHS|USCIS|Central Regional Office|

More

From: Garman, Gary G

Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 8:03 AM

To: Adams, Kim; Adams, Raymond P; Bard, Jodi; Blakeway, Albert W; Coates, Timothy S; Conway,Michael J; Dedvukaj, Mick; Dooley, Sharon V; Douglas, David M; Garman, Gary G; Hamilton, Ricky W; Hansen, Mark B; Heathman, Sandy M; Kehl, Lisa M; Kent, Jeanne M; Klinger, Michael J; Lambrecht, Andrew M; Lee, Kamsing V; Leopold, Kay F; Lopez, Antonio; Loutas, Aphrodite G; Mather, Robert B;McNeer, Laura K; Medina-Maltes, Martha E; Moyer, Chester S; Mueller-Cantu, Elaine M; Ortiz, Mario R;Perry, Michelle C; Pietropaoli, Lori A; Pratt, Caroline R; Reynolds, Patti J; Sheive, Kristy A; Siegl, Mark T;Stark, Laura; Tarango, Tracy; Tasch, Helaine S; Verderosa, Geoffrey J; Webb, Russell L; Zarybnicky,Kenneth A

Cc: Quarantillo, Andrea J; Langton, Lynn M; Brecht, Jeffrey T; Gallagher, Kevin E; Smith, John H; Dyer,LaToya S; Gonzalez, Alfonso G; Cowan, Robert M

Subject: FW: Message to Field Offices on NBC Workloads & Modified Processes

Field Leadership: If you have any questions on the NBC “lean and light” process, please contact Regional ISO Jay Watkins. For questions regarding the IR I-130s that will be shipped from the Service Center and through the NBC to the field for adjudication, contact RISO Thomas Hawthorne. For questions regarding any deferred action I-821Ds that will be sent to the field as a result of the random sampling process, contact RISO Gebre Habtu.

Regards,

Gary Garman|Associate Regional Director, Operations|DHS|USCIS|Central Regional Office|

From: Monica, Donald J

Sent: Friday, September 14, 2012 4:59 PM

To: Woo, Ellen Y; Rust, Maureen; Garman, Gary G; Quarantillo, Andrea J; Redman, Kathy A; Tierney,Terry; Renaud, Tracy L; Goodwin, Shelley M

Cc: Cowan, Robert M; Robinson, Terri A; Muzyka, Carolyn L; Campagnolo, Donna P

Subject: Message to Field Offices on NBC Workloads & Modified Processes

Regions: Please pass the following information to your Field Offices. This provides additional background onthe transfer of work to the field while the NBC undertakes its hiring initiative. As additional staff enters on duty, the NBC will resume its current case preparation processes and take overadjudication of the stand-alone IR petitions.

Regards,

Donald J. Monica

Associate Director

Field Operations Directorate

Immediate Relative I-130 Process

August 15, 2012—California and Vermont Service centers began shipping Immediate Relative I-130s to NBC for distribution to the field for completion. NBC will ship I-130s to the field bi- weekly based on zip code jurisdiction starting the week of September 17th. Below is a quick summary of the NBC IR I-130 process:

• Until Lockbox is ready to receipt with MSC receipts, these I-130s will have WAC or EAC receipt numbers

• Lockbox plans to start assigning MSC receipt numbers to stand alone Immediate Relative I-130s October 1, 2012.

• Case information should be available in ICMS for field to update by the time they receive the I-130s

• NBC plans regular shipments to the field every 2 weeks starting the week of September 17, 2012.

• As agreed to, we will ship I-130s to the field office with jurisdiction over the petitioner’s ZIP code.

• NBC will not perform full TECS checks or any evidence review on these cases before we ship to the field.

• The I-130s will ship in receipt files, not A-files.

• NBC will report bi-weekly (to align with shipments) on the volumes shipped to the fieldby office and region.

• We’ll post the reports on Connect at USCIS Connect\ Working Resources\ NBC Recurring Reports.

• The NBC will provide more details on related aspects associated with this process in the near future

[B & G 200]

Wow.. a very interesting read.

However these are dated in Sep 2012. That is when USCIS started sending petitions to local field offices. It is the reason why in Sep thru to Nov 2012 approvals for K1 and CR1/IR1 were flying out the windows. Some people got approvals in as short as 2 weeks during those months.

By Jan 2013 almost all local filed offices had incurred backlogs. It is why in May this year USCIS stopped sending them to local field offices and started holding them at Lee's Summit to gather dust while they waited for OP to open. And as we all know.. OP has yet to open. (Other posters feel free to correct me on my timings if I am wrong)

Im not saying the DACA didnt start the problem.. but USCIS has known about the backlogs at least since Jan 13. It is now Nov 13 and they JUST started doing something about it. I don't blame DACA applicants or the executive decision that gave them the right to file. I do blame USCIS for their apparent extreme lack of organisation and lack of priotising files. Their attitude so far has been ' well.. lets do this and hope no one notices!'

[Blueberry Pancake 311]

NBC is seeking to bring on additional staff to assist with their increased workload due to DACA. As they gain more staff, the NBC will resume its current case preparation processes and take back the adjudication of the stand-alone IR I-130 petitions. The timeframe that they will resume this work is unknown at this time.

Well, months and months later- this timeframe is still unknown. NBC is still not able to process I-130, that's why they started shipping them out to service centers lately.

Now, I'm guessing, there will be yet another backlog soon, this time at the service centers.

Vicious cycle?

Wow, just wow.

[quitepainful 56]

unbelievable... we should post link to these emails and names of these individuals since we need to light a fire... they are the decision makes... not the senators...

[etrangais 947]

I think we need to act somehow to bring this issue to light!

But even so, it will take months to clear the backlog even they start working on it now! Driving me crazy!

[Monalisa22 84]

I firmly believe US citizens who filed a I130 petition on behalf of their immediate relatives ought to file a class action lawsuit against the Obama administration and the USCIS. Our rights are being violated. 2014 is an election year which immigration reform will be one of the issues. The American people need to know what's going on. Illegal immigrants and non-citizens are becoming more of a priority. This must end now.

[thedude6752000 360]

Here here!

[ainsleyw 8]

Wow - I would really like to see similar emails explaining their decision to stop transferring cases to the local offices. I wonder how they can explain the choice to just let the petitions gather dust at the NBC for months on end? I agree that we need a class action law suit to draw some attention to the poor practices going on.

[teddy k 35]

I wish somebody from here who knows somebody high up in media would help our cause that would be great cuz the government does not care about us it only wants to make money off us to do nothing bunch of bums