I'm not without gripes about the immigration system in the US as my wife is European and we've been fighting to get her permanent residence established long enough that we've had two kids and moved three times, yet still we are in the struggle. However, the beauracracy is so complex that one's standing doesn't fall into the hands of any one particular USCIS officer. Such an assertion is incredibly disingenuous to how mundane, slow, beauracratic, and absurd the process really is.

What kind of bureaucracy are you facing? The biggest I've noticed is making sure everything is perfect on submittal so you don't get put into the exception handling path of approval. Common mistakes are wrong/missing forms, form entry error, missing/inconsistent supporting documents.

Sometimes its no fault of anybody, its just the length of the queue. E.g. green card renewals, simple, used to be done in 6 months or less. Now it is assumed that it will take 24 months. This i90 has no burden of proof or stuff, its just simple pay fee & get new card. So, sometimes applicant thinks rightfully they are stuck in there for ages, and USCIS has no saying in hiring new staff or implementing new laws or changes.

Maybe someone who knows queue theory could explain this, but if circumstances have driven the length from 6 to 24 months, doesn't that mean it's heading upwards to unlimited lengths?

In (basic) queue theory, at equilibrium (average input rate = average output rate), the length of the queue is proportional to the variance in the input rate. Make that what you want :D

Have you tried contacting your senators and congressional representatives? They can sometimes kick in the right place to get a stuck bureaucracy moving again.

+1 on contacting your senator(s). I was stuck in a bit of an immigration nightmare once and they helped get it fast tracked, connect me with the best attorney for my particular situation. Be sure to mention you’re married and have kids :)

How is this possible? My brother-in-laws wife is from Costa Rica and it took about 12 months to get her permanent residence. Have things changed that much in 4 years? Are you working with an immigration lawyer?

It's uniform enough that we don't hear about the selective treatment.

Uniform enough that you don’t hear about it.

Where would I go to hear about it?

Probably from people who have been on the bad end of selective treatment.

The companies would be one who receives the selective treatment since they are breaking the law.