Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the agency should not proceed with furloughs because its budget forecast has changed.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the agency should not proceed with furloughs because its budget forecast has changed. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool via AP

Homeland Security Moves Forward With 13,000 Furloughs Despite Its Improving Financial Situation

Lawmakers say the furloughs, set to begin in August, are now unnecessary.

The Trump administration is moving forward with more than 13,000 furloughs even though the impacted agency no longer expects to see a budget shortfall this fiscal year, according to lawmakers and internal emails sent to employees. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told employees it can only delay the mandatory unpaid time off for more than 70% of its workforce if it receives emergency funding from Congress, even though an uptick in revenue has opened the possibility that it can now cover its expected expenses through September.

Joseph Edlow, USCIS deputy director for policy, said in an email obtained by Government Executive the agency would not be able to continue operations starting Oct. 1—the beginning of fiscal 2021—without help from Congress. USCIS officials previously asked Congress for an emergency appropriation of $1.2 billion, saying the fees the agency collects had dropped precipitously as a result of the novel coronavirus and that this would leave it $571 million short of covering its costs in the current fiscal year. 

In a letter on Tuesday to Edlow and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, the top Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Homeland Security panel said USCIS was now projecting a surplus in fiscal 2020 and should take immediate action to prevent “unnecessary furloughs.” 

“A surplus is certainly in stark contrast to the revenue forecast provided to Congress earlier this year,” wrote Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Jon Tester, D-Mont. “Yet, despite this welcome reversal in revenue estimates, USCIS has perplexingly chosen to proceed with furloughs of over 13,000 federal employees. During this pandemic with record unemployment, needlessly forcing these hardworking Americans into unemployment will crush the morale of the workforce and put an untold number of families into unnecessary financial distress.” 

Edlow told employees, however, USCIS would only delay furloughs if Congress provides funding or “otherwise indicates” that it plans to do so. Such a signal would put the agency in a “better financial posture,” he said, and could enable it to cancel the furloughs altogether once the funding is received. The furloughs are currently set to begin the first week of August. Leahy and Tester said in their letter they were “committed to addressing this issue in the next coronavirus supplemental.” 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have met with Republicans in the Senate this week to iron out a forthcoming pandemic relief bill. They expect to pass such a bill by the end of the month, but have not indicated whether it will include USCIS funding. The House passed a coronavirus package last month that did not include USCIS funding and many Democrats have pushed to only provide such appropriations with certain conditions on immigration policy. 

Leahy, USCIS employees and immigration advocates have suggested the pandemic is not the lone cause for the agency’s financial woes. They have cited changes by the Trump administration to limit legal immigration, such as restrictions on visas due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, efforts to block immigrants who would qualify for public assistance and other initiatives. 

In their letter, Leahy and Tester noted the larger impact of USCIS drastically curtailing services due to widespread furloughs, noting citizens, employers and students alike rely on USCIS. Agency employees have said fraud detection and background checks would be greatly impacted, in-person interviews with immigrants would be curtailed and already record-high backlogs would continue to grow. Many workers have said they are looking for permanent work elsewhere, explaining they cannot afford to go months at a time without a paycheck. The furlough notices, which USCIS sent out earlier this month, said the unpaid time off would last for at least 30 days. 

“This extended furlough is being taken because of a shortage in funds,” the notices read. “As a fee-funded agency, USCIS has been directly impacted by the global coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. In stark contrast to congressionally appropriated agencies, USCIS’ budget is impacted by fluctuations in revenue based on application and petition receipt levels.”

Edlow said USCIS was focused on the "affordability for the next fiscal year," noting the agency must pay rent, security costs and essential contracts. The agency must replenish its carryover reserves, he explained, and ensure adequate funding for the coming months. While USCIS has long delayed making a formal request for funding from Congress, Edlow promised to fight for the workforce in his ongoing conversations with Congress. 

A USCIS spokesperson reiterated the message in Edlow’s email, saying its budget situation has improved but it cannot defer furloughs without congressional intervention. 

“Our funding request of $1.2 billion has not changed and we cannot emphasize enough that we need Congress to provide emergency funding to ensure agency operations continue uninterrupted,” the spokesperson said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.