U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revealed that the agency has adjudicated around seven million immigration related applications in FY2014. The seven million applications processed by the agency in FY2014 include naturalization applications; petitions for immigrant visas; adjustment of status applications; applications for nonimmigrant visas, refugee and asylee status; request for protections under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA); applications by victims of crimes and requests for deferred action.
The world’s largest immigration system is administered by the USCIS. USCIS is said to be the largest immigration system in the world as the system includes more than 100 immigrant and non-immigrant visa classifications. It also includes more than 200 different applications. Around 13,000 federal employees are employed by the USCIS to administer the system. Apart from the federal workers, 6,000 contractors work for the agency within the U.S. and abroad.
Until February 17, 2015, the agency was preparing to implement expanded Deferred Action for Childhood (DACA) program under President Obama’s immigration reform rule. Since a Texas federal judge issued an injunction to temporarily block the President’s executive actions, the USCIS has paused on the implementation of expanded DACA. Expanded DACA and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) will not be implemented by the USCIS until the court order is overruled.
If the President’s immigration reform rule is implemented, USCIS is expected to process more number of applications. The U.S. Congress has now passed a bill to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that will not defund President Obama’s immigration reform rule. If the court order is overturned, the DACA program will be expanded and the USCIS will also implement the DAPA program.
USCIS was asked to provide information regarding the agency’s financial expenditures and operations. This is the reason why the agency has provided information on the number of applications it has adjudicated. Click here to read the written testimony of the USCIS titled “Oversight of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: Ensuring Agency Priorities Comply with the Law”.