Most of the employees at the Phoenix field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have gotten official furlough notices for early August.
Without help from lawmakers, they could be out of work for months.
The situation could turn out a couple of ways for Steven Sahr, a union steward, and more than 70 of his coworkers at Citizenship and Immigration Services in Phoenix. They could all still avoid furloughs, if Congress gives their agency a $1.2 billion emergency loan. Or they could be told to stay home until new applications add up to at least $300 million in fees.
“But the processing is really not going to happen until they bring us back,” Sahr said.
The money problem at Citizenship and Immigration Services is not the workers fault, and many chose careers in government for job security, according to Sahr.
Furlough notices are for 30 to 90 days, but could be extended.
