Rep. Pete Aguilar introduced a resolution to highlight the importance of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and express the House of Representatives’ commitment to working with the Biden Administration to reduce the immigration case backlog. This backlog has immediate effects on immigrants waiting for certainty. In May 2021, USCIS reported that it had received over 62,000 applications from first-time DACA applicants but had only processed 1,900 of these applications. On July 16th, a federal judge blocked DHS from approving new DACA applications in a ruling against the DACA program. This means that 60,000 applicants who sent their first-time DACA applications to USCIS can no longer be processed, and thousands of young Americans’ lives are placed in limbo.

“We’re a nation of immigrants, but under the Trump Administration we failed to live up to our values. Now, we have an opportunity to refocus our efforts to ensure USCIS is running efficiently so that we can reduce the immigration backlog. This resolution makes clear that the House majority is focused on this issue and stands ready to support USCIS and the people who’ve had to put their lives on hold as they wait for their immigration cases to be processed,” said Aguilar.

“The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is proud to support Congressman Pete Aguilar’s work to reduce the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) immigration case backlog,” said Chair Dr. Ruiz. “Addressing the backlog is necessary to give immigrants, American citizens, and businesses the certainty and stability needed to succeed. I thank Congressman Aguilar for his leadership in introducing this resolution, which highlights the importance of having a well-resourced USCIS to process cases effectively and honors the American tradition of supporting immigrants.”

Rep. Aguilar is a Member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and serves as Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus.