Fact Sheet

  • There a currently 4 USCIS Service Center Locations
    • California Service Center (CSC) – UE 1008, Laguna Niguel, CA
    • Nebraska Service Center (NSC) – UE 808, Lincoln, NE
    • Texas Service Center (TSC) – unorganized, Fort Worth, TX
    • Vermont Service Center (VSC) – UE 208, Essex Junction & St. Albans, VT
  • Bargaining Unit (BU) Employees (i.e., union members) at the CSC, NSC, and VSC are represented by the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE).
  • UE members at the Service Centers are a skilled, experienced workforce. They perform a wide variety of clerical and pre-adjudication tasks. They are in most instances the first stop in the immigration pipeline for asylum seekers, refugees, dreamers, specialized workers, victims of human trafficking and domestic violence, and special immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Contract employees at all Service Center locations are presently employed by federal contractor ITC Federal, headquartered in Fairfax, VA. ITC’s Service Center contract with USCIS commenced on February 1, 2023 with a 9-month base period and two one-year option periods ending on November 30, 2025. 
  • Companies contracted by USCIS to oversee the work of BU employees fulfill the limited functions of staffing and workload distribution. Work is completed at USCIS direction, in USCIS facilities, using USCIS equipment and materials, and according to USCIS processes. The contractor has virtually no authority to determine the methods and manner of work performed, nor to determine appropriate staffing levels.
  • For most BU employees, ITC is not their first employer at the Service Centers. The contractor responsible for staffing and workflow has historically changed every 3-5 years. The nature of the work performed is consistent across contracts. Workers continue their employment from contract to contract, being “hired” by each successor contractor, with some having completed 20 or more years of continuous service to the U.S. government working on consecutive USCIS contracts. 
  • ITC is contracted under the Service Center Operations & Support Services (SCOSS) task order, which is awarded to contractors who have been awarded participation in the DHS Program Management, Administrative, Clerical, and Technical Services (PACTS) II contract.
  • The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) governs the minimum wages and benefits to be paid to employees who perform work on the PACTS II contract.
  • The UE represents more than 50,000 workers in the U.S. Roughly 2,000 of its members work on DHS and State Department contracts where they provide critical support at various stages in the immigrant and non-immigrant visa application processes.