The American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA) has just released a report entitled Reopening America, which addresses the serious problems facing American families and businesses arising from the combined impact of four years of anti-immigrant policies from the last Administration, compounded by the lock-downs and paralysis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed Embassies, stopped air travel and imposed bans and restrictions on travel. As the pandemic continues to reign havoc around the world, these bans and restrictions remain in place, with devastating impact for individuals, families, and U.S. businesses. The travel restrictions have kept families separated, restricted the issuance of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, cost individuals their chance at the American Dream, and impaired the ability of U.S. businesses to bring in and bring back foreign talent to fill seasonal and permanent positions, all of which impact our nation’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
AILA’s report illuminates the problems arising from the COVID bans and the last Administration’s deliberate efforts to block legal immigration and provides a road map for how the U.S. Dept. of State can, through its consular services, contend with historic backlogs in pending cases, accelerate the processing of non-immigrant and immigrant visas and get America back on track as a welcoming nation for legally qualified immigrants.
The goal of AILA’s report is to offer constructive ideas on how the Consular Service, with help from Congress and the Administration, can allocate resources and implement new technologies and processes so as to re-start visa processing for the benefit of U.S. citizens and the U.S. economy. To quote from the report: “The COVID-19 global pandemic has necessarily changed the way the world operates into a more flexible, nimble, and virtual world. The impact and effects of the pandemic are far reaching and will continue to impact the agency’s operations moving forward unless DOS transforms itself by considering additional policies that can help reestablish the United States as a welcoming nation as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.” To read AILA’s report, click here. For additional information on immigrating to the U.S. in the Post-Covid world, .