Lawmakers in Washington have yet to reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown. If they don鈥檛 have an agreement by the September 30 deadline, here鈥檚 how some immigration services would be affected.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would continue to operate
is the main office for immigration that deals with benefits, such as applying for citizenship, applying for a green card or applying for a work permit. Because it鈥檚 a fee-based budget 鈥� in other words, their money comes from fees charged for these services 鈥� it would not be subject to a potential government shutdown.
Haim Vasquez, an immigration attorney in the Dallas area, said USCIS has the budget to continue operating.
鈥淲e will see a slowdown because there are some employees that are part of the federal payroll and they need the money from the budget that comes from the federal government,鈥� Vasquez said. 鈥淏ut the office itself of USCIS, we don鈥檛 expect them to shut down 鈥� scale down a little bit the operations 鈥� but continue functioning.鈥�
Immigration Court would shut down
Other federal entities are different. , for example, falls under the Department of Justice and isn鈥檛 considered essential business. That means those courts would close if federal funding runs out, prolonging the ongoing delay of immigration cases.
鈥淎s of right now, there鈥檚 an estimated number of 2.6 million cases on hold or waiting for a court date,鈥� Vasquez said. 鈥淭his number will increase or the delays will increase if there鈥檚 a government shutdown.
Currently, some cases have been delayed by as many as 5 to 7 years, meaning some people have had to wait that long for a hearing.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection would continue to operate
The government considers and essential services so both agencies would continue to operate during a government shutdown. But employees would likely be required to report for work without getting paid, and that could pose a problem.
鈥淲e know that employees that have to show up to work and not get paid will affect them directly. The way that they perform their job will also be affected,鈥� Vasquez said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking people to show up and work and not get paid for those days 鈥� that鈥檚 very difficult.鈥�
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