Our Charter and Platform 2024 Kitchen Table Talks

Kitchen Table Topics - Immigration

Democrats Abroad wants to know what issues matter to you as a Democrat living abroad. Your input can help shape DA’s 2024 Platform. Run a Kitchen Table Talk - information here - and make your voice heard! Topics on Immigration included below (scroll for the full list).  Add your own through the Kitchen Table Talk New Topic form. 

USCIS Office Closures

Are you impacted by the closure of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices abroad?

BACKGROUND

  • USCIS officers are responsible for adjudicating a wide variety of petitions and applications filed internationally, providing information services, and issuing travel documents to people in a wide variety of circumstances; 

  • The closure of these offices will materially slow the processing of matters such as family visa applications, foreign adoptions and citizenship petitions from U.S. citizens living abroad and members of the military stationed abroad;

  • The closure of immigration offices abroad will also discourage and thwart immigration applicants by adding considerable time to what are already lengthy wait times for application processing, eliminating processing in foreign languages and removing services that handle emergency applications;

  • The work of the USCIS officers is expected to be taken over by State Department officials in U.S. embassies and consulates, though their consent to take over these duties has not yet been obtained, thus causing enormous concern amongst Americans abroad and the immigration law practitioners who prepare and submit their filings.

REFERENCES

Immigration Today

How has immigration changed in the last 4 years? What are the issues and how does it affect us?

BACKGROUND

  • The United States is home to more foreign-born residents than any other country in the world. In 2021, immigrants composed almost 14 percent of the U.S. population.
  • Congress has failed to agree on how to address immigration challenges, leaving many policy questions up to the courts and executive branch.
  • President Joe Biden has reversed many of former President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies, even as he has struggled with a historic influx of migrants.

REFERENCES