Immigration long lines Extension on work permits help immigrants get back to supporting families again (wftv.com)
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — There is progress for people who have been waiting and worrying they’d get deported because of expiring work visas, after the process has gotten longer over the years.
While some people would apply for renewals as early as a year ahead of expiration dates, sometimes even that wasn’t enough.
Now as long as they applied before May 4, they won’t have to.
UCSIS extended work visas from 180 days to 540 for those who filled out the Employment Authorization form.
READ: New system helps ease long lines at Orlando immigration office
“DHS estimates that anywhere between 300,000 and 420,000 noncitizens could take advantage of the flexibility offered in this Temporary Final Rule, and that approximately 260,000 new applicants would lose some employment time without this temporary measure,” said Sharon Scheidhauer, USCIS’ public affairs officer.
Soto said the extension has already helped at least 53 people in Osceola County, with whom his office was working with directly.
Immigration attorney Frank Symporien said overall, thousands of people have been impacted.
READ: Days-long wait for immigration appointments a consequence of a broken system
“What we’ve seen is people who are on the brink of an emotional breakdown because of their inability to support themselves have really been able to breathe and move forward with their lives,” he said.
This comes weeks after hundreds of people were backed up waiting for appointments across town at the Immigration Enforcement Office on Delegates Drive.
The lines were so long, people slept outside in fear of missing their slots.
READ: People camp out overnight outside Orlando immigration office due to long lines
On Thursday, that line became significantly shorter; just a couple dozen people waited for appointments, after Reps. Darren Soto and Stephanie Murphy wrote a letter to ICE to fix the massive appointment backlog.
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Video: Massive backlog of appointments at immigration office forces people to sleep outside, wait in lines A massive backlog of appointments at a local immigration office is forcing people to sleep outside and wait in long lines for their mandatory appointments.
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Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.
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