That sums up the results of the elections. Based upon the previous four-year term of chaos, we can expect several things for common employment- and family-based immigration cases. The incoming administration likely will end the policy of deferring to prior approvals when reviewing requests for extensions of stay, which will waste time and resources and unnecessarily delay cases. Applicants for permanent residency likely will need to submit hundreds of pages of financial documents to show that they will not become a financial burden to the country and also likely will need to appear in-person for an interview before USCIS will approve their green cards. The level of scrutiny applied to all immigration cases likely will increase and make what should be a routine matter a Herculean task. These developments and others will frustrate individuals and employers alike and contribute to the stain that the prior four-year stint left on the nation’s reputation.
Those are just some of the changes the public will see and experience. Inside the Departments of State and Homeland Security, career professionals will experience whiplash and misdirection. As one USCIS adjudications officer commented, officers simply want to do their jobs and not be subjected to the whims of any one administration. They take their jobs seriously, do hard work, and don’t need politicians telling them how to do their jobs.
History will show that the chosen path is fraught with peril. Let’s take this as an opportunity. Contact your representative and senators to urge them finally to pass sensible, comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border, increases the number of work visas and green cards available each federal fiscal year, provides a pathway to citizenship to undocumented persons, and makes employment-based immigration sponsorship more objective and matched to the needs of employers in the 21st Century.