If anyone is interested in how to go about writing their elected representative, I spent a lot of time drafting a fairly thorough how-to guide yesterday:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/421608-a-guide-to-writing-your-elected-representatives-about-the-i-129f-slowdown-at-the-csc/
A Guide to Writing Your Elected Representative about the Current Backlog in K-1 Petition Processing at the USCIS’s California Service Center
Disclaimer: The following will most likely not get your case expedited. I cannot even guarantee it will help you get a response from your elected representatives. But I do believe it will provide some valuable basic information and “best practices” that will help get your complaint to the right pair of eyes and perhaps even get some extra attention there. Most importantly, I truly believe that if more people took the time to follow these guidelines and highlight the current problem at the CSC to their representatives, then we all stand a much better chance of there being meaningful pressure on the USCIS to get their act together. That may not mean your case itself will be explicitly expedited in some way, but it could mean that the K-1 backlog starts getting processed sooner, which has the same effect.
1. Who Are My Representatives?
Since the USCIS is a federal agency, state-level representatives will be of little or no help. Instead, you should identify who your congressperson and senators are. Everyone in the US has two senators for their state and one congressman for their district. It doesn’t matter if you voted for them or even knew they existed; they are your representatives and they work for you.
You can find who your congressperson here.
You can find who your senators are here.
2. Which Representative Should I Contact?
A. Political Party
I’ve seen some conflicting reports about whether Republicans or Democrats tend to be more responsive to constituent complaints. These reports, however, have to be discounted by the fact that we do not know exactly what has been written in each individual case. Elected representatives receive dozens and dozens (if not hundreds or thousands) of complaints each day and rely on their staffers to sort through and prioritize them. In my experience, these people (staffers and elected representatives) tend to want to help. That’s why they took the line of work they did. (Cynics may disagree.) But they have limited time and resources and cannot help everyone equally, so you can expect them to discount complaints that come across as rants or screeds, or complaints that are just poorly written and thought out. They might not do so consciously, but they are only human. In any case, I doubt very much that there is a significant correlation between political party and overall responsiveness. There are doubtlessly bad apples in both parties and there is, of course, always the possibility that the staffer screening your complaint has had a bad day. But don’t let that deter you!
The only caveat to that has to do with how you go about talking about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in your complaint. This program is likely the cause of the recent backlog (see Part X below) and talking about it will be an important part of your complaint. But it was a program enacted through an executive order by President Obama—a Democrat, so Democratic representatives and their staffs may be more reluctant to vigorously pursue your case if they believe doing so would amount to an attack on that program. Republicans, on the other hand, will likely be more receptive to pursuing your case if they believe you have been wronged by a policy enacted by a Democratic president. Overall, I don’t believe this should give you pause about contacted representatives of either party, but you should keep it in the back of your mind as you consider how exactly to phrase your complaint. You may want to emphasize the DACA program’s role in your woes to Republicans and deemphasize it to Democrats.
B. Committee Member?
Both chambers have a role in the oversight of the immigration process. But those roles are, by-and-large, confined to smaller committees. If one of your three representatives is a member of one of these committees, then that means they should probably be your first choice. A member of one of these committees would be most tied into the agencies involved in immigration and have the most influence over those agencies.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Sub-Committee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security:
Democratic Members
Chuck Schumer, New York (Chairman)
Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont
Dianne Feinstein, California
####### Durbin, Illinois
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii
Republican Members
John Cornyn, Texas (Ranking Member)
Chuck Grassley, Iowa
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah
Jeff Sessions, Alabama
Jeff Flake, Arizona
Ted Cruz, Texas
Members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Border Security:
Democratic Members
Zoe Lofgren, California (Ranking Member)
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Luis Guiterrez, Illinois
Joe Garcia, Florida
Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico
John Conyers, Jr., Michigan
Republican Members
Trey Gowdy, South Carolina (Chairman)
Ted Poe, Texas, Vice Chair
Lamar S. Smith, Texas
Steve King, Iowa
Jim Jordan, Ohio
Mark Amodei, Nevada
Raul Labrador, Idaho
George Holding, North Carolina
Bob Goodlatte, Virginia
You may also give similar priority to your senator if he or she is a member of the so-called “Group of Eight,” a group of senators who are currently publicly working on immigration reform legislation.
The Group of Eight:
John McCain, AZ
Marco Rudio, FL
Lindsey Graham, SC
Jeff Flake, AL
Charles Schumer, NY
Richard Durbin, IL
Robert Menendez, NJ
Micheael Bennet, CO
C. Senator or Congressman
If none of your representatives serves on one of these committees, then consider the following. In general, senators wield more influence within and without Washington than do congressmen and congresswomen. They tend to stick around longer and have deeper ties to various federal agencies. Congressmen and congresswomen, on the hand, can come and go every two years and may or more may not be plugged into the system or know how to get anything done. Moreover, The Senate is inherently more powerful than the House of Representatives when it comes to oversight and drafting new laws.
On the flip side, however, congressmen and congresswomen usually have fewer constituents (there are exceptions for states that have only one or two congresspersons, such as Wyoming), meaning they may be more responsive in general to constituent complaints and that your complaint stands a better chance of actually being seen by your congressperson (and not just staff).
I believe the balance leans in favor of contacting senators; however, there are other considerations that may tip the scale.
D. Other Considerations
First, you should do a wikipedia search of your representative to see how long he or she has been in office. A congressman who has been in office for 20 years and who thus has an experienced staff that knows the ins and outs of the USCIS may be better than a first term senator. You may also want to google the representative’s name along with terms like “immigration reform,” “deferred action for childhood arrivals,” and the like to see if you can find them making a statement that shows they may have a personal interest in immigration issues.
E. Contacting More Than One Representative at Once
My inclination about this is that it’s best to give one representative’s office some time to become invested in your case and make inquiries before you get others involved. But your mileage may vary. My whole underlying principle in this is to act towards my representatives and the USCIS in a professional and courteous—but stern—manner. I suggest you use your best judgment as, at the end of the day, all of this is going to be driven by how invested we can get representatives in our cases.
3. How Should I Contact My Chosen Representative(s)?
Once you have decided who you will contact, the best way to contact them is to submit a written copy of your complaint electronically. For most representatives (perhaps all?) you can find complaint submission portals on their congressional website. Simply go to their website, find the contact section, and follow the directions to submit your complaint.
After submitting, you should give the staff a few days to get back to you. Typically, however, you should expect to hear something back in 4-5 days, if not earlier. If you have not heard back in that time, you should call the office and leave a polite message that references your complaint and the date you submitted it. Be sure to leave your phone number and email address with anyone you speak to and ask that they get back to you as soon as possible.
4. What Should I Include in My Complaint?
NOTE: Do NOT copy anything written here verbatim. All complaints should be personalized. If you copy the language that I or someone else used, then you risk having your complaint ignored as a form letter.
A. Overview/Premise
Remember, the purpose of USCIS is to resolve immigration issue for the benefit of US citizens. It is supposed to work to bring them together, not serve as an impediment to their reconciliation. It is limited in providing super-efficient service in that (1) it accepts relatively low fees (which guarantee universal service access for even poor citizens) and (2) fee-based services must also cover the expenses of free services, such as the adjudication of refugee claims. But those two caveats in no way mean US citizens have to simply accept 8-9 month delays in processing. They don’t even mean we should be accepting 5 months.
The bigger problem with K-1 visa processing is that K-1 petitioners are not a distinct class with sustainable lobbying power. To the extent K-1 petitioners turn to the political system for a fix, it is usually just to seek an individual redress. And, once an individual’s case has been resolved (with or without help), the petitioner tends to move on and never raise the issue again, leaving the next group of poor saps to meet the same predicament. There is almost no incentive for the USCIS to fix the problem systematically and no incentive for politicians to devote their political capital to it. As long as they USCIS can generally report to congress that they are meeting their processing time frame goals, they will avoid a lot of scrutiny over their handling of non-political visas, such as the K-1.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Think back to before you applied for a K-1. Did you have any idea what a boondoggle you were in for? I didn’t. And I suspect very few do because it’s just not something that gets talked about. It’s a very particular area of policy that few have reason to think about. The silver lining to that, however, is that when people do find out how it works (or, god forbid, have to go through it like us) they quickly realize how absurd it is. The way the USCIS treats petitioners is like something out of an Orwellian satire. It’s something people can instantly understand to be wrong and in need of commonsense fixes.
Taking all that into account, I suggest generally framing your letter with four principles in mind:
(1) Show that you understand the problem
By carefully explaining the problems with the way the USCIS treats K-1 petitioners, you will go a long way to showing your representative and their staff that you are not merely some disgruntled crank (I’m sure they hear from their share of those). And the absurdity of the current paradigm is so self-apparent that it speaks for itself when carefully laid out. When staff can understand the system we are struggling against, they can better empathize with us. Moreover, they will better understand why you have chosen to escalate the problem to them and why they should further escalate your complaint through their channels.
(2) Be professional and avoid hyperbole
It’s easy to get carried away when you write about a problem that affects you so personally as this. Believe me, I know. But flying off the handle will likely only backfire in this context. Remember, you want your representatives and staff to become emotionally and intellectually invested in how badly the current system is affecting you. You aren’t fighting against the representative. The representative probably has no idea exactly how bad the current processing backlog is because I doubt anyone has taken the time to explain it. Treat them professionally and honestly. Try to make them your ally and arm them with the facts so they can better fight for you.
(3) Show that it’s not just about you, but about a systemic problem that is affecting tens of thousands
This point ties in with the first but deserves special emphasis. I’m sure many representatives still have no idea that there is such a widespread problem at the CSC. They are not experiencing it; we are. We have to educate them about it. It may not seem like it will help our individual cases, but, realistically, the best the possible thing for any of our cases would be for a senator or congressperson publicly rebuking the USCIS for their treatment of all cases.
(4) Make it clear that you expect your elected representatives to oversee such agencies on your behalf
Show that, while you are not naïve enough to expect your single representative to move heaven and earth on your behalf, you expect competent and diligent pursuit of an improved situation, both for yourself and other K-1 applicants. Give the representative’s office time to work, but make it clear you expect them to do more than just go through the motions.
B. The Content and Organization of Your Letter
The following are sections you should include in your letter, along with an overview of the content you should include in each. Again, DO NOT copy any of this verbatim. You should personalize your letters to the greatest extent possible.
(1) Introduction
Begin with a polite salutation such as “Dear Senator X”. Then include a brief paragraph that (1) notes you are a constituent, (2) explains that you are writing to seek help in regards to problems with your K-1 visa petition, and (3) provides the date and reference number of your NOA1.
(2) Content About the Scope of the Problem at the USCIS’s California Service Center
I suggest dedicating 2-3 paragraphs to describing the current problems that are apparent at the California Service Center. Many of the problems in processing can be found analyzed in great detail in my post about I-129F processing data. In a nutshell, those and other problems are as follows:
a. The Slow Down in I-129F Petition Processing Since August, 2012
Over all, the number of I-129F completions per receipts has dropped off drastically since August, 2012. When the ratio of completions to receipts falls, the backlog of apps grows, guaranteeing longer waiting times for petitioners. We only have published data through January, 2013, but, based on that data, we know that the completions per receipts of I-129F visas were 33% below their two year average from August, 2012 to January, 2013. Even worse, for the last two months of reported data—Decemeber and January—completions per receipts were down over 60% from their two year average, the lowest they’ve been on record. This has a substantial backlog of apps to build up very quickly, guaranteeing long delays for anyone who filed since the summer of 2012. Unfortunately, anecdotal evidence from visajourney.com and Igor’s list suggest the trend is much worse because there have likely been no improvements to completions per receipts since January, making the current period of inattention to I-129Fs the longest on record in recent years.
b. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (I-821D, aka “DACA”) Applications Are Getting Priority at the Expense of I-129F Petitions
There have previously been slowdowns in application processing. So some delays are nothing new. In fact, it seems the USCIS operates by batch processing certain types of apps on cycles—focusing on a certain class of application for a few months and letting backlogs build for others, and then rotating to focus on the backlogs that have built up. But, after I conducted an extensive analysis of the data, I discovered that this time is different.
As I already pointed out, the resources devoted to I-129F processing is at record lows and likely has been for a record long period of time. But what I was surprised to discover is that it really is only I-129Fs that have been targeted for a slowdown these last few months. And it’s not because of an incredible flood of petitions over all, either; it’s because the CSC has been focusing on processing DACA applications at a pace that exceeds the two year average for completions per receipts of all application types. In other words, I-129F petitioners are being delayed not just so another application class can be processed—but so they can be processed quickly. This is patently unfair to I-129F petitioners and borderline outrageous from a political standpoint. Someone has got to start asking the USCIS tough questions about why they have put so much priority on a certain application class and then singled out another class so disproportionately to bear the cost.
c. The USCIS Has Blatantly Manipulated It’s “Processing Timeframe” Dates to Avoid Accountability
The USCIS will only accept service requests (i.e., will only actually look into a petitioner’s complaints) if the petitioner’s petition was filed prior to a set “processing time frame” date. This makes sense for preventing petitioners from bogging down the service center from calling every day and demanding special attention. But what doesn’t make sense is that the USCIS gets to set its own “processing time frame” dates without any apparent oversight or accountability. This means that, if they are running behind in processing a class of applications, they need not worry or respond to customer demands for better service; all they have to do is not update the “processing time frame” date and they will never have to even respond to customer complaints. Customers (i.e., US Citizens who have paid a fee and are relying on this government service), meanwhile, are left to turn to places like visajourney.com to guess about the true nature of their plight.
Well, that’s exactly what has happened with I-129Fs over the past several months. As the USCIS has deliberately shifted resources away from their processing, it has simply stopped updating the I-129F’s processing time frame date, meaning that even customers delayed up to 2-3 months longer than their “target” processing time cannot even demand and answer from the USCIS. In fact, the USCIS has not updated their “processing time frame” date for I-129Fs in over three months; it has been July 18, 2012 since December. And that is just absurd on its face. What that means is that the USCIS is claiming to the world that it has been processing applications filed on July 18, 2012 for over three straight months without finishing them. Does anyone think that’s even remotely close to what’s really been happening? No. No one could claim that with a straight face. What’s really happening is obvious: The USCIS is manipulating the processing time frame date to avoid accountability. And they are doing so in a way so blatant that it is nothing short of an insult to both their customers and to the elected representatives who should be overseeing their operation.
d. The USCIS Is Extremely Opaque In Its Operations To the Detriment of Petitoners’ Ability to Plan Their Affairs
How did I find out about the slowdowns, the priority given to DACA applications, or the processing time frame manipulation? True, I did technically learn those things from the USCIS, but only because I spent hours and hours combing through their data and past practices. Why should I have to waste my time and productive energy towards getting answers the USCIS has readily available? Why do they make it so difficult to find out what is going on? Why can’t they publish honest time frames so that people can plan their lives accordingly? These are all questions that need to be answered with changes at the USCIS. No government service should be run in a way where it is actively hiding its inner-workings from the very people who rely upon its services. The USCIS works for us but the only way they get away with such shenanigans is because they know we can’t fire them. Well, we need our representatives to get serious about firing somebody on our behalf if this continues. We deserve better.
(3) Content About Your Personal Situation
As frustrating as the USCIS’s processes and policies are themselves, do not forget to end your letter strongly by highlighting how the processing delays and lack of answers have hurt you, your fiance, and your families. Some general things to focus on are the economic hardship of supporting two households, the added costs of travel to see each other (if even possible), the emotional toll of being apart, and the effect the separation is having on any children in the custody of either parent. Talk further about how the uncertainty of the approval date makes it extremely difficult to plan for moving, for a wedding, and for arranging employment. Finally, be sure to highlight special hardships such as medical conditions, possibilities of domestic abuse or other danger for the beneficiary, or anything else that risks the well-being of you or your fiance.
(4) Closing and Signature Line
I suggest closing in a stern but optimistic tone, urging your representative to help you and assuming they will do so. Then close with “Sincerely, *Your Name*" and be sure to include an address block under your name that has the following information:
Your Address
Your Email Address
Your Personal Phone Number
5. What Happens Next?
After sending your complaint, you may have to wait a few days to hear back from the representative's office. That's normal. They will likely contact you and ask you to sign a privacy waiver so they can request info on your case. It should be ok to return this by email or fax so that their office can get right to work; be sure to ask if they don't say that explicitly, though.
Once you have signed the privacy waiver, they should hand your case off to their office's immigration liaison who will investigate. Just use your best judgment in working with this person as they can help you. Give them some time but don't feel bad about following up every few days or so if you don't hear back.
6. Final Thoughts
You may also want to consider contacting others beyond your elected representatives. If you have connections to local/regional media, it may be good to tell them your tale. Again, it’s not something many are aware is happening and I believe someone could make a very good investigative report about it. You may also want to send a copy of your complaint to the USCIS Ombudsman, though prepare yourself for a generic answer from his office.
In the end, it’s all about getting our applications back under active review as soon as possible. To do that I think we need to fully exhaust our influence in the political system. I hope this guide has been helpful to those looking to do just that. I will try my best to answer any individual questions people have, but I have to apologize in advance for not being able to read or edit everyone’s individual complaints. Just follow the guide and trust your story. Telling the truth is enough because the current truth is damning for the USCIS. We just need to get people to hear that truth. Thank you for your efforts; this can’t be done alone.
You are providing assertions but no evidence and very superficial analysis. Yes, there are more DACA apps than I-129Fs. But that's pretty much where your analysis begins and ends.
First, DACA, by design, only affects a group of relatively young individuals. Many of them are students who will be working campus jobs and other low wages positions that are no better paying than illegal waitstaff jobs.
Second, DACA applicants are getting their approvals in under a month. In comparison, I-129F petitioners are waiting 6-7 months if they are lucky. A fast I-129F processing is 5 months; a fast DACA processing is a few weeks. Now think in terms of percentages what that means for relative fluctuations of completions per receipts. You want to talk about relative hardship? Well you should be talking about weeks versus months.
Third, as has been pointed out, the I-129F is just the beginning of a longer process for K-1 applicants. Moreover, what follows the I-129F involves a ton of logistics and thus requires a great deal of planning. Not having a set approval time frame (or even any transparency) for I-129Fs is a huge problem. Having a few days fluctuation for DACA approvals, on the other hand, poses no such problems on DACA applicants.
Fourth, as has been pointed out, the economic and emotional impact on I-129F petitioners is substantial. Supporting two separate households is no easy thing, not to mention how it negatively affects the job prospects for the beneficiary on both ends of the process.
The point is not that we should be choosing one or the other--I-129Fs or DACA. And it's not that the USCIS shouldn't process DACAs in a timely manner. I and most other posters here are totally fine with DACAs being completed more quickly than I-129Fs because DACA apps are simpler and should be easier to finish. But what is not ok is for DACA apps to be completed at a higher completions to receipts ratio than both I-129Fs and the two year average for all application types, all while I-129Fs get processed at their slowest rate in two years. As I have shown, I-129Fs are not just getting slowed down so that DACAs can get processed; they are being practically brought to a halt so that DACAs can get processed quickly. It's not defensible.
What's going on is that, since August, 2012, they have moved resources from I-129F processing to making sure that DACA applications get processed quickly, leaving I-129Fs with record low completion rates. You can find more about the details of this in my CSC data thread.
For a nation absolutely built on immigration, I am astonished at how painful this process is proving to be.
When we initially applied for the fiancé visa back in August 2012 it was a toss up between the UK or the US and we figured the US visa might be a better option because they have a more established and defined immigration service....and because we figured we'd be applying through California, which typically processed more quickly than Vermont....
....boy were we wrong!!!
Here we all are, doing it absolutely by the book (many don't!!) following all the procedures and paying the fees. And what do we get? 8 months of nothing.. Nothing, nothing, nothing!!
And now the latest is that the California Service Center is closed.....because the toilets don't flush. I am absolutely lost for words at this process.
Anyone else out there staggered, astonished and appalled at how awful this process is, I feel your pain!
Finding out about all these delays is really disappointing, and there is growing talk about contacting you congress people or the media.
I'm all for this and I think it might be useful to have a simple and direct cut/paste letter for congressmen, and/or the media. We may not have much of a voting bloc, but perhaps we have enough numbers on the site to make a dent if we can get enough letters out there.
I'd be happy to throw in my suggestions, but if anyone has something they've already written, perhaps it can be posted as a template.
There are some tips here: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/letterscongress.htm
If you need to find your representatives, you can use this:
House - http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Senate - http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Agree and disagree ... yes they are not cutting in line, because there is no real line. There are sets of work to be done and the CSC is putting the illegals' work far ahead of ours.
Economic sense ... what does it matter? My fiancee will get a job soon after she is allowed to come here. Both her or an illegal can work and contribute to the US economy. And if you want to talk economic impact, consider that so many of us on VJ are sending money abroad via Western Union to help support our fiancees that doesn't see the light of day in the US. One of these days I would love to not be a hermit in my apartment and go out with my loved one and enjoy a nice dinner and a movie, go bowling, go shopping with her (did I really just say that?) ... things that can help our economy.
Thanks JD for your action!
My fiance in California will definitely make action to media too.
I read on a blog that a radio helped to create a buzz about a difficult K-1 case, which led a congress person to give support and she finally received NOA2.
So newspapers, radios and TVs could be our choice.
I hear Mark Zuckerberg is starting a political advocacy group on immigration reform. How about presenting the super-effective K-1 procedure to the Facebook CEO?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324105204578384781088854740.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
I just wrote a letter to the LA Times to have them investigate and write about the massive delays currently occurring at the CSC with I-129F petitions. I will continue to write to the various papers and media outlets around the country every day until the CSC starts spitting out approvals. When I see they are still working on July and it is almost April and many people are still waiting for a response after receiving their NOA1 in July and August, it does not exactly fill me with hope that my fiance will be here this year. If you would like to help, I propose that you do the same, contact your congress person, contact media outlets by phone or write to them and let them know about this intolerable situation that is going on with fiance approvals at the CSC.
Huh? How would that be anything close to a conspiracy theory? Have you ever studied public choice or game theory? USCIS gaming statistics in that way would be pretty much an expected agency behavior given their incentives to report lower mean processing times to congress.
Imagine you are a USCIS administrator juggling the demands of several different classes of petitions. Periodically, one type of petition will fall behind (you can see this in the data) and then you batch process it to catch up, allowing other types to fall behind. The whole time you are getting complaints from congressmen and your bosses are under pressure for you to meet a certain goal time. Do you want to report to your boss that it's impossible to meet the goal time? Or do you tell the reviewers to grab a bunch of apps that were filed 2 months ago and push them through so you can depress the mean completion time figure and tell your boss that you have met the goal? This isn't rocket science.
We all need to meet with our Congressman/woman or their reps and demand they do something. I think if they see an influx of concerned people and look into CSC something might be done. I went to talk to my Representative today and she could not believe we have been waiting for almost 8 months! She said she would follow up with CSC and hopefully she can do something to move our case along. You should all write or meet with your Representatives!!
Lets just be respectful people. We are all dealing with the unknown when it comes to the government anyway which is stessfull enough. People come here to find some comfort through this long process. Lets be a little more tolerant. No reason to get ugly with eachother. We are all in the same boat more or less or have been at one time or another.
Must have been a pretty significant plumbing problem. The CSC is in a government complex that appears to be the size of 4-5 walmarts. How the heck can a large portion of such a building be rendered inoperable by a plumbing problem?
http://goo.gl/maps/kJiCZ
What would "action" look like exactly? My fiance is calling his congressman today. We are just under 5 months since application but he is calling about all the issues and delays. Is the that best "action" we can do??? Any thoughts?
I think we definitely need to be pushing for accountability at the USCIS. I've been working on drafting a post detailing some "best practices" for contracting elected representatives. Beyond that, I'm not sure what we can do. Hopefully we can raise some eyebrows by relentlessly and meticulously pointing out the USCIS's flaws. It's a topic that has been entirely absent from the debate over immigration reform. And it'd be a shame if they just built a new building on the same broken foundation.
This is another issue we need to raise in our long litany of complaints. Are they going to make up the processing days? How will the missed work be mitigated? It's not as if they are not already hopelessly backlogged. This is another example of the lack of accountability that we need to be urgently addressing in any way we can. That we just idly by and say "be patient" and "there is nothing you can do" are useless platitudes. Action needs to be taken and now.
The problem I have is that the workload of the USCIS has increased greatly and now they are way behind. It is very poor capacity planning on the part of the government.
I do have empathy for the young people like the ones in the video who petition and can benefit from DACA and want to stay in America. That said, I don't buy the way that the video depicted the US government and justice system as some 'big mean deportation bully' that has to be softened up. The fact of the matter is, these kids are picking up the tab because their parents or relatives didn't think about the consequences of their actions. Now the government is stepping in to try to alleviate the situation and, unfortunately, not thinking about the consequences of their actions. And everyone on here is picking up that tab.
The jury is still out on whether DACA is really helping these people. The video didn't cite any testimony or statistics that these kids are getting a favorable outcome. Some social programs work and some are ill-conceived. It's just too soon to tell.
I'm not a PHD in math or any other field, but it's not required to simply look at the numbers, use simple logic and come to the simple conclusion that around the time the dream act starts K-1 and all other application at CSC slow down.
Logic tells us you can draw these conclusions baring facts to the contrary. since CSC will not provide facts to the contrary, the conclusion stands on its merits. you can dispute this all day long it won't change reality.
As many other have noted and I will agree, I have nothing against the dream act other than it's poor implamentation, lack of preplanning, thoughtless disreguard for the people ahead of them in line. These can be blamed not on the people filing claims but the USCIS and other govenment officials who jumped on the program without thinking about it's impact. And there unwillingness to talk about it to anyone, breeds the notion that they did something wrong in the way they implamented the program.
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I agree with this post, you should not be mad at the Daca petitioner. You should be mad at the president for passing such a ridiculous thing and mad at the illegal parent who brought the kid here. Now I love foreigners, I love people from other countries coming to visit. I'm one of the few people in Orlando who likes the tourists. But people that invade our country and steal our resources is grounds for war. We bomb people we don't even know thousands of miles away because they are hurting each other, but we look the other way to the millions that are hurting our country our land. I don't really care if they are here, I would never compete job wise with them. But our government needs to be set up much differently so that the honor code is done away with. Take away illegals voting in the last election I would have liked to see the outcome.
The crazy thing is that the workload at the CSC has not greatly increased by historical standards. In fact, the post-DACA months saw fewer applications on average than the pre-DACA months. What has changed, however, is that they have obviously decided that they must process DACA apps at a historically brisk pace and that it is appropriate to force I-129F petitioners to wait while they meet that goal.
You can see the reality here.
The problem I have is that the workload of the USCIS has increased greatly and now they are way behind. It is very poor capacity planning on the part of the government.
I do have empathy for the young people like the ones in the video who petition and can benefit from DACA and want to stay in America. That said, I don't buy the way that the video depicted the US government and justice system as some 'big mean deportation bully' that has to be softened up. The fact of the matter is, these kids are picking up the tab because their parents or relatives didn't think about the consequences of their actions. Now the government is stepping in to try to alleviate the situation and, unfortunately, not thinking about the consequences of their actions. And everyone on here is picking up that tab.
The jury is still out on whether DACA is really helping these people. The video didn't cite any testimony or statistics that these kids are getting a favorable outcome. Some social programs work and some are ill-conceived. It's just too soon to tell.
[Continued from the previous post due to limit on image embedding per post...]
4. Effects of Including the DACA Apps in the CSC Total Workload Stats
So let’s look more closely at what happens when we include the DACA application data to the other CSC data. The number of pending applications rises, the number of overall completions rises as the office starts turning out DACA approvals, the increase in the number of receipts is of course evident, the CPP decreases briefly before re-converging (note from the above graph how we know this decrease comes on the back of 129F and the subsequent convergence is improvements in DACA completions, not a fixing of the 129F completion figure), and the CPR does the same as the CPP (with the same underlying mechanism at work).
All Others Pending, Completions, and Receipts trends from above, but with percentage increase figures also included for perspective.
CPP and CPR from the first effects graph, but with percentage change figures added for perspective.
5. Comparisons of Pre-Aug., 2012 Stats with Post-Aug., 2012 Stats
We can see here that the slowdown in I-129F processing times isn’t being driven by an abnormal surge in the amount of I-129F petitions pending. In fact, there was, on average, fewer pending there than at times prior to the DACA applications. Moreover, all other apps at the CSC are similar down in terms of the number pending. But, when you add the DACA apps in, you can see how they are swamping the CSC, raising the total apps pending to 19% higher than its pre-DACA average.
Here we see the true weight of CSC processing choices on the I-129F completions. Compared to prior to the DACA apps, the average number of I-129F petitions completed at the CSC is down a staggering 33%, a change that stands-out from the other application types, and in stark contrast to how I-129Fs are being completed at the VSC.
This graph emphasizes that the slowdown in I-129F processing is not caused by some general surge in application receipts. To the contrary, even when you included the DACA applications, overall receipts are down across the board compared to the pre-DACA period. This is pretty damning for the USCIS’s handling of I-129Fs following the receipt of DACA applications. They have handled more filings in the past.
Again, we can see that the I-129F petitions are bearing a disproportionate reduction in completions per pending apps when compared to other application types, though all application types at the CSC have taken a bit of a hit. This is measuring how big the building backlog has gotten. No such slowdown at the VSC, however.
Again, we can see that the I-129F petitions s are bearing a disproportionate reduction in completions per pending apps when compared to other application types. This is how a backlog is born and perpetuated. No such slowdowns for other application types at the CSC, VSC, or even nationally. Do you need more evidence that I-129F petitions are being singled out for this current slowdown?
Linear Regression Analysis to Determine Statistical Significance of the Correlation
Going beyond what intuition and commonsense should tell us about the above data, we can find more evidence for the hypothesis that the DACA applications have causes a statistically significant slowdown in I-129F petition processing by breaking out the big econometric guns and turning to Gretl.
Given the time series nature of the data, I chose to model a linear AR1 regression to capture the interplay between the variables overtime. What this means in layman’s terms is that I measured the relationships between key variables, both within their current period and with a one month lag effect, to see which variables were correlating with which other variables. In particular, I wanted to ascertain the extent to which other variables were effecting the CSC’s I-129F completion numbers throughout the 24 month period. There are some limitations to making this type of equation with the data I have because related variables (such as receipts and all other pending) cause co-correlation problems; however, I do believe the results I was able to generate by carefully choosing key variables are pretty damn convincing.
What this basically says is that the numbers of DACA applications pending and completed have a statistically significant negative correlation with the completion of I-129F petitions at the CSC. Correlation is not causation, but, I think given the other analysis I provided above, we can pretty much call this one. Moreover, the model used ended up being surprisingly robust, explaining 88% of the variation in the dependent variable (completions of I-129F petitions at the CSC). For your reference, here is a mapping of the regression versus the actual trend line. The residual, a graph of which I cannot include due to the images per post requirements, decreases on average post-Aug., 2012, further giving validity to the notion that the regression is correctly capturing the influence of the DACA applications. I rest my case.
Conclusion
The DACA applications have caused a major slowdown in the processing of I-129F petitions at the CSC. The CSC has singled out I-129F petitioners to bear the brunt of these DACA filings. But it doesn't have to be that way. Let your representatives know that you do not deserve to be singled out for a delay in reunited with your loved one while DACA applicants jump the line to approval. Use this evidence in your complaints to them if you'd like. The USCIS is playing games with our petitions, but now we have the facts to call them out on it. So what are you waiting for?
Zipline reacted to I & B in I just wrote a letter to the LA TImes
Zipline got a reaction from M J in I-129F Delay at the CSC: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Data
Zipline got a reaction from Melosh in CSC CLOSED DUE TO PLUMBING ISSUES
Zipline got a reaction from EminTX in CSC CLOSED DUE TO PLUMBING ISSUES
Zipline got a reaction from AKSinghSingh79 in The Dream Act
Zipline got a reaction from N-o-l-a in The Dream Act