“Unemployment can lead to both physical and mental health issues,” Crenshaw said. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, the top Republican on the subcommittee, encouraged his colleagues to come up with funding to avoid employee furloughs, noting the coronavirus pandemic is damaging the physical and mental health even of those who do not contract COVID-19. “These furloughs would completely destroy their ability to support themselves and their families and worsen the already precarious economic situation of their communities,” Kelley said in his written testimony. As of last week, USCIS had yet to formally ask Congress for the appropriation.Įverett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents USCIS workers, said at the hearing the only thing worse than DHS carrying out a poorly planned return to work would be "no return at all." He implored lawmakers to provide USCIS with emergency funding and require the funding be contingent on not furloughing any workers.
USCIS will soon begin sending furlough notices to thousands of employees to prepare for the possibility it will not receive additional funding, telling its workers the forced unpaid time off could last more than 30 days. Citizenship and Immigration Services for $1.2 billion to close a shortfall the agency has said resulted from a drop-off in application receipts during the pandemic.
Reardon's appeal follows a request by U.S. “Without appropriated funding to support these CBP officers in 2020, we are gravely concerned that this loss of user fee funding could result in furloughs at a time when trade and travel will be struggling to return to normal,” Reardon said.ĬBP did not respond to a request for comment on its current funding situation or the possibility of furloughs. Reardon called on Congress to appropriate funding to make up for the shortfall, noting CBP has estimated it will use up all of its collected fees and reserves before the end of the fiscal year. “This budget shortfall is a result of the reduction in customs and immigration user fees collected due to the drastic drop in international commercial travel, and to a lesser extent, trade volume since March 2020,” said Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CBP’s Office of Field Operations employees. The hearing focused on how DHS could ensure the safety of its employees as coronavirus continues to spread and federal agencies are bringing more workers back to their normal duty stations.Ībout 8,000 CBP officers are funded through immigration inspection and other fees collected as various vehicles and vessels pass through ports of entry. Union officials raised the concerns Tuesday at a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee’s panel on oversight, management and accountability, pointing specifically to Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations.
Citizenship and Immigration Services employees, workers in other areas of the department are worried they too could see furloughs after fees collected by their offices have dropped precipitously in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. As the Homeland Security Department prepares to send furlough notices to thousands of U.S.
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