The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is moving to shutter all of its 21 international field offices.
USCIS’ international offices help process the applications of people wishing to immigrate to the U.S. and are comprised of about 70 staffers.
USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna said in a Tuesday email to staff that he is working to shift current duties to domestic offices and to U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, the Washington Post reports. If the State Department agrees, Cissa said the move could happen in coming months “in an effort to maximize our agency’s finite resources.”
“I believe by doing so, we will better leverage our funds to address backlogs in the United States while also leveraging existing Department of State resources at post,” Cissna wrote. “Change can be difficult and can cause consternation.”
“I want to assure you we will work to make this as smooth a transition as possible for each of our USCIS staff while also ensuring that those utilizing our services may continue to do so and our agency operations continue undisrupted,” the email reads.
In addition to facilitating immigration applications, the agency assists refugees and investigates fraud.
The plan comes after President Trump declared a national emergency last month in order to get border wall funding, calling illegal immigration a “virtual invasion.” In addition to combating illegal immigration, Trump said last week he wants to increase legal immigration to the country.
