The government’s legal immigration agency plans to launch a loan forgiveness program for employees with up to $60,000 in repayments if they hold tough jobs to fill.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees can earn $10,000 in forgiveness annually and must promise a three-year commitment, but they can collect for up to six years until they reach the $60,000 threshold, according to a notice circulated at the agency.
The notice to agency managers, obtained by The Washington Times, says the program will be announced to employees on July 1.
“Our work to hire employees at USCIS has been relentless,” Donna Campagnolo, chief human capital officer, said in the notice. “With a strong workforce, we can meet our mission. We also know that if we retain talent, we gain so much — we can reduce the cost and the stress of hiring and training new employees.”
The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment for this report, so it’s unclear how the program will be funded.
Experts said the forgiveness was odd for an agency that is supposed to be funded entirely by fees paid by immigrants and the businesses seeking to bring them. The forgiveness is all the more striking because USCIS has had financial difficulties for years and has begged for a taxpayer bailout each year under President Biden.
Part of the imbalance is because USCIS doesn’t charge fees for what it considers humanitarian applications and the crush of asylum cases from Mr. Biden’s border chaos has meant a massive workload without more fees to pay for it.
Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project and a longtime observer of USCIS, questioned where the agency will obtain the funds.
“USCIS is a fee-funded agency, so whose money is being diverted to pay off these student loans? Are they skimming even more from the fees legal immigrants are paying, or are they expecting a taxpayer bailout?” she said.
The agency did not respond to an inquiry.
Emilio Gonzalez, who ran USCIS during the Bush administration, said the agency’s employees earn good pay and the spending is a waste.
“The average USCIS employee is not struggling to put food on the table,” he said.
He pointed out that agency employees, like other Homeland Security Department workers, have already been granted Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ generous general leave policy. Mr. Mayorkas regularly gives extra days off for Christmas Eve and even “public service recognition week.”
Mr. Biden is pushing loan forgiveness more broadly.
The Supreme Court ruled that his initial attempt was illegal.
He has since proposed more limited forgiveness to reduce or eliminate accrued interest for millions of borrowers.
USCIS’ plan would operate under a federal law, the Student Loan Repayment Program, which allows federal agencies to make loan repayments at their discretion.
The latest governmentwide report on the repayment program dates back to 2021. It said the Homeland Security Department, which oversees USCIS, made student loan repayments to 348 employees that year. Across the full executive branch agencies, the Office of Personnel Management reported 9,143 employees receiving loan repayments at a total cost of $75.4 million.
USCIS did not say how many employees it expects to apply or be approved or provide a cost.
In her notice to managers, Ms. Campagnolo said the program was launched “after careful consideration” and aims to boost employee retention.
She did not say what positions would meet the difficult-to-fill standard.
USCIS has been on a crash course to hire more people to handle all the work Mr. Biden’s border has created.
The agency had 18,339 staff positions in fiscal year 2021, but Mr. Biden’s latest budget submission to Congress envisions 25,431 positions by 2025.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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