Visa and Green Card Delays Are Hurting Americans

RESTORE LAWFUL IMMIGRATION PROCESSING NOW As your constituent, I urge you to investigate and act against the immigration-processing pause described in NPR’s April 28, 2026 article, “Trump travel ban puts people in limbo.” Strong national security vetting is essential and should continue, but lawful applicants complying with U.S. law should not face delays based on country category rather than individualized review. This pause reportedly affects visa, green card, work-permit, and related applications connected to as many as 39 countries. THIS APPROACH RISKS WEAKENING EFFECTIVE SECURITY SCREENING This is not about bypassing screening or immigration law. It is about requiring lawful applications to be processed through transparent, individualized review. Effective security policy depends on targeted, evidence-based review, not broad categorical suspensions. Freezing case categories can divert attention from higher-risk matters while trapping lower-risk applicants. THIS POLICY IS HARMING THE U.S. ECONOMY AND WORKFORCE Skilled workers, researchers, medical personnel, students, and other professionals may be unable to renew status, accept jobs, continue work, or complete lawful steps. Employers lose needed talent, projects are delayed, and American competitiveness is weakened. For many employers, especially in healthcare, technology, and education, these delays disrupt workforce planning, raise costs, and force difficult staffing and operational decisions. U.S. FAMILIES ARE BEING UNNECESSARILY DISRUPTED U.S. citizens and lawful residents seeking to sponsor spouses and family members should not face indefinite delay because an agency has imposed a categorical pause. These delays can affect housing, healthcare, employment, family unity, and financial stability. For many families, the uncertainty creates emotional strain, prolonged separation, and difficulty making essential life decisions about housing, schooling, and caregiving. CONGRESS MUST ENSURE FAIRNESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY The policy appears tied to USCIS Policy Memoranda PM-602-0192 and PM-602-0194, Presidential Proclamation 10998, and expanded travel-ban restrictions. Recent court findings have raised concerns that such pauses may exceed lawful authority. Lawful immigration processing should not be frozen by broad administrative action that leaves workers, families, employers, and communities in uncertainty. TARGETED OVERSIGHT WILL STRENGTHEN SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY Please take the following steps: (1) Hold oversight hearings on the scope, legal basis, duration, and human impact of the USCIS pause on deciding immigration applications. (2) Require written answers from DHS, USCIS, and the State Department identifying who is affected, case volumes, average delays, criteria used to pause or resume review, the legal authority relied on, the timeline for ending the hold, and any related internal directives, memoranda, or interagency instructions. (3) Press those agencies to resume timely processing through USCIS and consular channels unless there is an individualized security reason for delay. (4) Support legislation to prevent broad immigration-processing suspensions unless Congress clearly authorizes them or agencies make individualized security findings. Thank you.