Responding to an information request from Senate Republicans, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency estimated it may have to hire 3,100 new staff to implement the Deferred Action to Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program at a cost of up to $484 million a year. Another 400 staff are needed to implement an expanded version of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) program.
In January, Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., asked USCIS for cost information on the deferred action programs, including the new facility the agency leased in Virginia to house staff who would process amnesty applications. The agency responded by letter noting that its estimates are based on the assumption that 60 percent of those eligible for DAPA and DACA would apply.
The letter said, “Should that initial planning estimate hold true and the injunction were lifted, USCIS might ultimately need to increase its hiring plan up to a total of 3,100 new employees at an annual cost of $184.3 million, and total program costs of between $324 and $484 million per year.” Another 400 staff would be needed to implement expanded DACA, the letter said.
With respect to the location leased for new staff, USCIS said the 280,039 sq. ft. facilty has an annual rent of $7,771,092 and will cost $26,231,296 to set up. About $11 million was already spent in set-up costs. The facility is empty now but the agency is considering putting it to use in the processing of backlogged applications by legal immigrants. Such applications were put on the back burner as USCIS planned for Obama’s executive amnesties.
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