Changes in the U.S. government and around the world due to the effects of politics, natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting business needs, worker mobility, and an increasingly digital world rapidly accelerated by the pandemic, have had a major impact on immigration. These changes may be temporary in some cases and more permanent in others. A hoped-for post-pandemic transition does not realistically include things returning to the way they were before. Below are selected highlights of key U.S. and global immigration-related developments and trends in 2022. United States U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unveiled a new mission statement in early February 2022 that includes the Biden administration’s stated priorities and Director Ur Jaddou’s “vision for an inclusive and accessible agency.” The new mission statement says, “USCIS upholds America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility with fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve.” Although the new mission statement emphasizes welcoming and respect, and a shift away from the previous administration’s emphasis on security issues, concerns remain about delays, denials, and lost files, along with ongoing border issues. Among other things, USCIS’s challenges include funding cuts, technology performance issues, equipment limitations, and some manual workflows and paper files […]
