United States Feinstein Tender

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein D-Calif. today released the following statement on the Trump administration decision to close overseas immigration offices run by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services USCISThe announcement by the Trump administration to close overseas immigration offices run by USCIS is troubling and will harm thousands of American families awaiting international adoptions family and work visas travel documents naturalization for military service members and other services.Americans seeking these crucial services already face historic delays. Average processing times for immigration forms have increased by 46 percent over the past two years for a total of 2.3 million delayed cases.Closing these offices which have assisted Americans overseas for decades will only worsen those delays. Military personnel stationed abroad will have to wait longer to become U.S. citizens. Workers living abroad will be separated from their families. And parents will have to wait longer to adopt children.President Trump said last month that we should increase immigration levels because legal immigrants enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. This decision unfortunately will make legal immigration even more difficult.