USCIS to Furlough Staff

COVID-19 is still a thing, causing lots of delays and cancellations, even though it seems that the number of cases has decreased in different places around the world. It’s still a danger, and it seems it is also affecting USCIS because only recently, they declared they are planning to furlough some of its employees. Why did this happen? Here’s everything you need to know about the furlough decision.

What Is a Furlough?

A furlough is a period during which a worker is not working anymore and is unpaid. The worker is still retaining his/her job as the employment will continue, but the furlough means that they are not working for their employers anymore and are not being paid. Even if this is the case, this is not a permanent decision – the arrangement is temporary. Workers will have the opportunity to go back to their job after the arrangement is over.

Usually, this leave is a result of either an employer’s or a company’s special needs. These could arise from certain economic conditions of either the employer or society. Because people are not earning any more cash during this period, they tend to look for new jobs until the period is over.

It’s important to know the difference between being furlough and being laid off, though. Whereas being furlough refers to temporary unpaid leave, being laid off is the opposite. When you’re laid off, employment is being terminated for good. Everything you’ve done with the employer will be over, including work, the salary, and everything else. When you’re laid off, you cannot really return to the job. With furlough, though, you can return.

Companies usually have to furlough their employees when there’s a lack of necessary funds, which means that they have to reduce payroll for a while. Furloughing employees allows a company to get back to normal much easier at the end of the crisis period, compared to laying off employees.

The cool thing is that employees can also maintain their benefits during the furlough period. For instance, some of the furloughed employees can keep their health benefits. It does depend on the employer, though.

Why Is USCIS Planning to Furlough Staff?

Furloughing the staff came as a decision due to the coronavirus pandemic. There has been a good amount of revenue that has decreased because of the pandemic, which forced USCIS to come up with solutions. The decision was to furlough staff, and the intended date is possibly in august. Of course, this applies as long as the Congress doesn’t step in with emergency supplemental funds until then.

At first, USCIS decided to furlough a large number of employers in July. However, they extended the period until August, and that’s when it’s supposed to happen.

“We previously anticipated that the furlough would begin on July 20, but we have received additional revenue and have identified cost savings to extend the potential furlough date to Aug. 3 in the event Congress does not provide emergency funding,” a USCIS spokeswoman declared. “We continue to work with Congress to provide the necessary funding to avert this unfortunate consequence.”

Before the furlough happens, though, the USCIS will have to notify the employees 30 days in advance about what’s going to happen, as this is what the law requires. In case there are no additional funds offered by the Congress in the meantime, then notices will be sent to employees on or before July 2, as the furlough date should be August 3.

Basically, the coronavirus pandemic is what caused the revenue of USCIS to drop, as there are fewer applications and petition requests due to the virus. USCIS is a fee-for-service agency, so the revenue it collects through said petitions and applications is what helps it run in the first place, which is why it relies on it. Through the end of fiscal 2020, an estimated 61% drop is expected. USCIS also put a limit to salary increases and took other measures to make sure they have enough funds. However, considering how bad the situation got, drastic action became necessary.

Over two years, USCIS estimated it requires $1.2 billion in emergency supplemental funds. In the middle of May, USCIS submitted a request to the Congress for an emergency budget. This request also includes a proposed surcharge of 10% to the application fees of USCIS.

How Many Staff Will Be Furloughed?

According to USCIS, more than half of its employees will be affected by the furlough decision. Back in March, the agency had to suspend its in-person activities as it was necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they reopened on June 4, the fact that they were closed for such a long time affected the revenues by making them drop. As mentioned earlier, USCIS made a request to the Congress in order to receive some additional funding. Until that happens, and if it’s going to happen, USCIS will have no choice but to furlough some employees.

That’s why a huge number out of the 20,000 employees will be affected by this. There are 13,400 employees who will be furloughed, and they will be notified of the process one month in advance. With so many employees being affected by the furlough, people are unsure what’s going to happen with the immigration services they offer.

What Does This Mean for Immigration Services?

Unless the Congress provides the agency with the funding it needs, it’s expected that the agency will experience difficulty when trying to perform properly. It may even get to the point where green cards, work, and visitor visa petitions, asylum applications, and anything of the sort may not even be processed. This will affect a lot of people and ruin their plans.

Everett Kelley, who is the national president of AFGE, sent a letter to the Congress on May 27. “Furloughs of this magnitude will undoubtedly cripple the agency’s ability to carry out its mission,” he said in the letter. “With a loss of nearly 11,000 employees, work and visitor visa petitions, asylum and citizenship/naturalization applications, green cards and refugee applications will not be processed.”

Getting the necessary money would help the agency run properly until the pandemic is finally over and people could go back to normal. “This amount would compensate the agency solely for the amount already budgeted for operational needs and to continue to meet payroll for the nearly 11,000 federal employees currently under threat of furlough,” Kelley also declared in the letter. “While the COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous negative impact on our nation’s economy, it is important that USCIS continue its capacity for administering legal immigration processes. Without this supplemental appropriation, this capacity will be profoundly undermined.”

Conclusion

USCIS would experience lots of difficulties in maintaining their operations with so many employees being furloughed, but it’s necessary since they have to reduce payroll. With such a drastic drop in revenue, they need to take care of their funds, especially if the Congress doesn’t grant their request.

Hopefully, the Congress will make a decision soon and there will be no need for so many people to be left without a job, especially during coronavirus times. Even if COVID-19 is still a thing, people need to be able to submit their applications and petitions.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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