Asylum officers from New Jersey and Massachusetts have been reassigned to work on the border

Some staff from the Newark and Boston areas have been relocated to work on border cases, causing many to fear the backlogs in the Northeast will grow even larger. After USCIS Acting Director Cuccinelli made the announcement, immigration advocates criticized the decision, saying it will increase wait times further and make it even harder for people to seek asylum. An email to the local offices stated that a “majority” of officers would be assigned to work on the influx of “credible fear” cases, either at the border or over the phone in the home offices. The Boston office will not conduct any more asylum interviews, while the New Jersey office will only have a “small number.” The email further states that USCIS hopes to return to a “more robust interview schedule as soon as possible.”

– Weekly Immigration Briefing by Olivia Hester, Immigration Law Analyst at Docketwise

Posted in: Immigration

posted on: September 3, 2019