More than a million immigrants are waiting for U.S. work permits, cutting many of them out of the job market when labor is in short supply.
Processing times for visas and work permits soared after embassies and immigration offices closed for months due to the pandemic, creating a backlog of cases that the immigration agency is still struggling to work through and highlighting what critics say is the cumulative effect of years of dysfunction.
President Joe Biden ran on improving the immigration system and unwinding restrictive policies implemented during the Trump administration, but processing times have continued to balloon even as ...