It's unfortunate that we can't bring them back, considering there are no mandates anywhere else and other countries have all dropped theirs. We certainly need the folks who are trained to do the work.
I could share similar stories to the ones that Mrs. Kusie indicated, of people who were unable to visit dying relatives. I had one particularly awful story of a fellow who had been in the country for 10 years from Vietnam and he had never been anywhere. There was an opportunity for him to go to a family wedding. Six months in advance of the wedding he actually applied for the documentation he needed to travel and heard nothing back. He escalated it through my office. I tried the line for MPs. I escalated it to the immigration folks as well and unfortunately he missed this life experience, which he can't get back.
You've indicated that people should go in person. We have had a lot of stories of overload at the in-person kiosks, where people are lining up hours before they open and they are still not able to be managed.
Is there any way that people can be aware before they show up of whether there is any chance of being processed that day?