The New Jersey State AFL-CIO urges all affiliates to contact their members of Congress and press for $1.2 billion in emergency funding to save AFGE brothers and sisters from furloughs starting Aug. 3. We need to stand in solidarity with them in this crisis.
More than 13,000 employees nationwide at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have been notified that they will be furloughed for 30 to 90 days. AFGE Local 2159 represents about 350 members in New Jersey, and three-quarters of them face being sent home in less than a month.
USCIS says it will have to furlough 75% of its workforce because the COVID-19 pandemic has hit its budget particularly hard. USCIS is funded by user fees, such as citizenship applications, and tighter immigration rules and coronavirus-related travel bans have cut those fees to a trickle.
The AFGE members at USCIS are working hard to keep the agency functioning smoothly in these unprecedented times. They should not face further hardship in the middle of a global pandemic.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO asks all affiliates to email their Representatives and Senators before the August recess by CLICKING HERE.