72 Lawmakers Demand Answers as USCIS Pattern of Inaccurate Replies Frustrates Congress

A bipartisan group of 72 lawmakers sent a letter dated August 27, 2026, demanding answers about the way U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services handles congressional casework. Rep. Bill Foster led the effort.

The letter went to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and agency Director Joseph B. Edlow. It asks the department to change the congressional inquiry process.

The lawmakers described an “alarming pattern” in correspondence with congressional offices. The problems have continued for several months.

Their offices reported difficulties working with agency liaisons. Constituents have faced delays, while congressional staff and agency personnel have spent time handling replies that did not resolve the inquiries.

The letter is signed by 71 Democrats and one Republican. Foster’s office characterized the effort as bipartisan.

“We write to express our concern regarding an alarming pattern that has emerged in Congressional casework involving USCIS over the past several months,”

The lawmakers said replies sometimes identify the wrong constituent or case number. Other responses fail to address the question submitted by a congressional office.

Some correspondence also lacks a clear route for follow-up. That leaves caseworkers trying to determine whether the agency reviewed the correct file or understood the request.

Replies are failing at the basic casework tasks

Congressional inquiries give Members of Congress a channel to communicate with the immigration agency about constituent matters. The offices use that channel while helping people seek information about pending immigration cases.

The lawmakers said that function breaks down when a response is inaccurate, incomplete or impossible to pursue. Their letter stated that “when inquiries are met with these inadequate responses—and there is no meaningful avenue for follow-up—that purpose is defeated.”

The complaint targets the response system, not a change to an immigration benefit rule. Its focus is the exchange between congressional caseworkers and agency staff.

A reply that cites another person’s case can create a new problem before staff can address the original one. An unanswered question leaves the office without the information it requested. A missing follow-up channel can prevent staff from correcting either error.

The letter does not describe one isolated inquiry. It presents the reported problems as a recurring pattern across congressional casework.

The lawmakers want the agency to examine its inquiry operation

The letter asks the agency to review both its Office of Legislative Affairs and the process used to answer congressional inquiries. The lawmakers also want an assessment of whether recent changes within that office, or in its inquiry procedures, contributed to the reported failures.

Their requests include:

1. Reexamine the practices of the Office of Legislative Affairs.
2. Review the congressional inquiry process.
3. Assess whether recent changes within the office contributed to the problems.
4. Assess whether changes in the way inquiries are handled played a role.

The inquiry comes as Foster’s press release says the problem has grown despite increased agency funding under H.R. 1. That reference places the correspondence concerns alongside the agency’s recent funding changes, rather than tying them to a particular immigration form or benefit category.

The letter also says the difficulties waste time on both sides of the exchange. Congressional staff must spend additional effort interpreting or correcting responses, while agency personnel receive follow-up work when an initial answer points to the wrong case or leaves the question unresolved.

The lawmakers did not ask congressional offices to stop contacting the agency. They asked the department and its immigration agency to make the existing channel usable.

Constituents remain tied to the congressional response system

Foster’s press release described the experience of congressional caseworkers as a “frustrating, never-ending cycle.” Each unclear response can require another inquiry, extending the time before an office can give a constituent a usable update.

That problem can affect people with pending immigration matters when congressional offices cannot obtain a direct answer. The reported consequence is not a new eligibility standard, but additional delay in resolving constituent questions through congressional channels.

The letter’s requested review now puts the agency’s inquiry practices before the department secretary and director. Its signatories are seeking answers from the officials responsible for the department and the immigration agency while congressional offices continue handling constituent cases.