Today, four U.S. Senators, Chris Van Hollen, Angela Alsobrooks, Mark Warner, and Tim Kaine, publicly challenged USCIS over its blanket pause on immigration and citizenship decisions affecting nationals from 39 countries.
Their letter says what thousands of legal immigrants have been saying for more than six months: people are being left in limbo based solely on their nationality. Green cards are frozen. Work permits are delayed. Citizenship cases are stalled. Families are trapped in uncertainty. (Chris Van Hollen Senate)
The senators asked a simple question that USCIS still has not answered: How can an indefinite, nationality based pause be justified when applicants have already followed the law, paid the fees, completed background checks, and trusted the legal immigration system? (Chris Van Hollen Senate)
This is not about politics.
It is about fairness.
It is about due process.
It is about thousands of students, researchers, engineers, doctors, and families whose lives have been put on hold without a decision.
Thank you @ChrisVanHollen@SenatorWarnock? No. Thank you @ChrisVanHollen@MarkWarner@timkaine and @SenatorAlsobrooks for demanding answers and standing up for legal immigrants caught in this crisis.
#LiftTheHold #USCISPause
https://t.co/lsfSYrqXgW
NPR just highlighted what thousands of legal Iranian immigrants have been living through for more than six months.
Not because they broke the law.
Not because they failed a background check.
Not because their applications were denied.
Simply because their cases were put on hold.
Students cannot plan their future. Researchers cannot continue their work. Professionals fear losing their jobs, homes, health insurance, and legal status.
America has every right to vet applicants. But endless silence is not vetting. Indefinite limbo is not a decision.
Read the story and hear the human cost of the USCIS pause.
@NPR@USCISJoe@SecMullinDHS
#LiftTheHold #USCISPause
https://t.co/mVKbtPzVqM
@Alighazizade متا��فانه با وجود #USCISPause بخش بزرگی از این نیرو به شدت دچار تحلیل روانی و فرسایش شدن و خیلیا توانایی مالی برای حضور در این کارزار رو ندارند.
THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
Iran may have no navy and no air force, but Iran still has the IRGC, a large army, and most of all, a regime ideology that has not been defeated (we have not armed the Iranian people to try to take it out). They are still shooting ballistic missiles and drones (and it's not clear if those weapons are part of the negotiations, although none of it will ultimately be enforceable). It appears we are protecting Hezbollah from annihilation (no, Israel is not at war with Lebanon), which is Iran's most powerful militia and has killed and maimed Americans for the last 40 years, and Hamas is rearming rather than disarming (again, Israel sought to destroy it). This does not bode well for the future, certainly after the conclusion of the Trump administration. Moreover, I don't think Communist China, our biggest threat, is impressed today (I believe it was at the outset of our military operation). If billions are directly or indirectly released to the Iranian.
It's illogical for the U.S. to cultivate exceptional talent only to see them return and rival us abroad. Many impacted by #USCISpause cherish America; they desire to contribute while embracing the American lifestyle. #LiftTheHold@DHSgov https://t.co/azNSusgB5y
For more than six months, many legal immigrants affected by the USCIS pause have been unable to work, unable to renew employment authorization, and unable to move forward with their lives. Savings have been exhausted. Careers have been disrupted. Families have been pushed to the brink. Some face the loss of their homes, their health insurance, and the stability they spent years building in America.
These are not individuals who violated the law. They are students, researchers, engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and professionals who followed every rule, paid every fee, passed extensive vetting, and placed their trust in the legal immigration system.
We respectfully ask those responsible for this policy to remember that behind every pending case is a human being. Behind every delay is a family. More than six months without answers is not merely a bureaucratic pause. It is a daily hardship affecting thousands of lives across the United States.
@SecMullinDHS@USCISJoe@DHSgov@SenGaryPeters@RandPaul
#LiftTheHold #USCISPause
I have long written and spoken about the many ways US immigration policy harms international students and scholars. This has been true for as long as I can remember, including when I first came to the US on a single-entry student visa more than 20 years ago under a process formerly known as muslim registry program.
But the current administration has gone much further, through arbitrary policy changes, travel bans, and broad visa processing pauses that leave folks unable to work, travel, or train.
These policies affect a minority of scientists, and in the current state of the world they can be easy to overlook. But we should not let that happen.
I wrote about the quiet loss of Iranian scientific talent in US labs for @TheScientistLLC:
https://t.co/uX0u2mTRa3
The mere possibility that hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the United States will be required to leave their families, homes, and jobs behind for months or more to adjust their immigration status outside the country is as unwise and it is unacceptable.
America leads when we have dedicated people—no matter where they're from—working to save lives, create new technologies, and more. So, whose needs does this policy change serve?
Immigrants have contributed to the economy not just as engineers or founders but also as smart investors. To keep America great, we need immigration.
I wish that instead of Republicans shutting down immigration indiscriminately and Democrats turning it on blindly, they would have agreed to a fixed annual rate and shifted the discussion to how to distribute that quota among high-skilled, low-skilled, refugee, and family immigration and how to close the abuse of those categories.
Point blank, this policy is a disgrace. It will rip talented, hardworking immigrants out from America and our economy, congest an already overburdened backlog, and further break an already broken immigration system.
And that’s by design.
This administration has made the pain of immigrants a priority, and that won't change until there’s no one left to hurt.