Nearly 14,000 feds face looming pandemic furloughs – By Jessie Bur (Federal Times) / July 15 2020
Budget shortfalls at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services have caused the agency to issue furlough notices to approximately 75 percent of its staff, a move that could lead to a vicious cycle of increasing financial challenges.
The agency is funded almost entirely by visa and citizenship applications, which have dropped significantly from the pandemic and Trump administration policies that have restricted the number of immigrants arriving to the U.S.
That drop in fee revenue means that a majority of the USCIS workforce will be required to stop work and go without pay for at least 30 days, beginning Aug. 3, unless Congress intervenes.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said American Federation of Government Employees Local 2660 President Nicole Guess on a July 14 press call about the upcoming furloughs.
Continue to article: https://www.federaltimes.com/management/2020/07/15/nearly-14000-feds-face-looming-pandemic-furloughs/
