The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) completed a record-breaking 10 million immigration cases in fiscal 2023, according to its end-of-fiscal-year report.
While this achievement is touted by the agency as a significant reduction in its backlog, it raises concerns about the number of immigrants entering the United States and the current administration’s handling of the border crisis.
USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou highlighted the agency’s efforts, stating, “We’ve completed a record number of cases, responded to emerging crises around the globe with essential humanitarian relief, and applied innovative solutions to improve customer experience and reduce backlogs.” [Source]
However, these numbers reflect a lax approach to immigration enforcement and a failure to address the root causes of the border crisis.
The report reveals that USCIS received 10.9 million filings and completed more than 10 million pending cases in fiscal 2023, both record-breaking numbers
Additionally, the agency administered the Oath of Allegiance to over 878,500 new U.S. citizens, including 12,000 members of the U.S. military, effectively eliminating a backlog of naturalization applications.
Amidst what USCIS describes as “the greatest displacement of people since World War II,” the agency’s staff interviewed more than 100,000 refugee applicants, more than double the number completed in fiscal 2022.
Among them, 60,000 were admitted into the country for resettlement as refugees. The agency also completed more than 52,000 asylum cases, including prioritizing processing Afghan asylum cases.
The report also sheds light on the controversies surrounding some of USCIS’s parole programs.
Many of these programs have been identified by the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security as illegal and were used as evidence to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
These programs, such as the initiatives for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and the Central American Minors Program, circumvent established laws and contribute to the ongoing border crisis.
The numbers reveal the true extent of what critics describe as a mass migration crisis, with the Biden Administration accused of attempting to naturalize as many immigrants as possible ahead of the 2024 election. [Source]
This strategy is viewed by some as an effort to secure votes, as most immigrants overwhelmingly vote Democratic in return for amnesty. Critics, including Republicans and other skeptics, argue that this approach aims to replace the American population while exacerbating the flow of drugs, crime, and diseases across the southern border, thereby putting American citizens at risk.