Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, Sept. 27, 2023 "The U.S. will aim to resettle up to 50,000 refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean in the next 12 months as part of a Biden administration...
Janelle Retka, Samantha McCabe, Jiahui Huang and María Inés Zamudio, The Center for Public Integrity, Sept. 28, 2023 "As climate change accelerates natural catastrophes, the disaster...
[ Editor's Note: I put "surge" in quotes because migration into the USA has ebbed and flowed for 200 years. As one famous person said, be not afraid.] Cornell Keynotes, Sept. 22, 2023 ...
DHS, Sept. 29, 2023 " Redesignation Allows Additional Eligible Venezuelan Nationals Who Arrived in the U.S. on or Before July 31, 2023 to Apply for TPS and Employment Authorization Documents. ...
Susan Montoya Bryan, Rio Yamat, Associated Press, Sept. 27, 2023 "Chinese immigrant workers allege they were lured to northern New Mexico under false pretenses and forced to work 14 hours a day...
Stuart Anderson, Forbes, Mar. 2, 2020
"Due to long processing times, since 2014 companies have been forced to pay $2.4 billion in “premium processing” fees to ensure their business immigration cases are decided within a reasonable time. Critics say U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has no incentive to process cases faster because the more time it takes, the greater the revenue the agency receives in additional premium processing fees.
To understand premium processing, imagine you sat down at a restaurant and saw a large asterisk next to the price of an entrée that costs $20.
“What does this asterisk mean?” you asked.
“It means the meal costs $20 but you have to sit here for 9 hours before I bring it out so you can eat it,” said the waiter.
“Nine hours? That’s outrageous! Isn’t there any alternative?”
“Yes,” said the waiter. “If you pay for ‘premium processing,’ you can get the meal after about 15 minutes but it will cost you an additional $1,440.”
“What if I want to eat at a restaurant and I don’t want to wait 9 hours or pay an extra $1,440?”
“You don’t have a choice – we’re the only restaurant in America.”
That sums up what businesses and attorneys say is their experience when filing immigration applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS has a monopoly on its service and takes a significant length of time to make decisions on cases.
... At a cost of $2.4 billion over the past 6 years, premium processing is likely the most expensive Band-Aid in American history."