Some thoughts on the immigration process. Thinking of faxing this to the media:
President Bush, required the agencies to reduce the backlog in the immigration process to about 6 months.
The USCIS has done a remarkable job in reducing the backlog. However they have been limited by the visa numbers assigned per-year. It would make sense that a backlog reduction plan should have considered the increase in requirement of needed visa numbers. The resultant state is that the USCIS cant make any gains on backlogs because they cant approve above a certain limit per-year. A classic example of setting a goal and not having the necessary tools to execute on it.
The DOL has taken a unique approach in reducing the backlog. They introduced a new labor system called PERM that had a significant electronic filing component. The new system has certainly improved performance, albeit with initial software glitches. However the 350K odd cases in the old system have been shipped to two backlog clearance centers. These centers have no transparency and delayed quick processing by entering data into a new system and requiring acknowledgement by employers for existing applications. After 2 years, neither has the data entry been done nor the acknowledgement been completed. In effect, the 350K applicants have been swept under the rug and the DOL has declared victory with PERM. President Bush required the agencies to clear backlog by 2006 and we are far from it.
How does a 4 year backlog clearance center, take 4 years to clear the backlog? Since the BEC has had no impact on performance, wouldnt it have been better to just use the old system to clear the backlog? This has got to be the incompetence of the DOL. Unfortunately incompetence is only highlighted with crisis, like FEMA with hurricane Katrina. It may be too late for thousands of highly skilled legal immigrants and their employers in this country when someone realizes the break-down of the immigration system in this country.
Thoughts?
