The Biden administration has amended the mission statement of a federal immigration agency to make it more inclusive-sounding and to strip away Trump administration language focused on security.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services debuted a new mission statement Wednesday that reads: “USCIS upholds America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility with fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve.” The Department of Homeland Security agency is responsible for processing applications for admission from non-U.S. citizens and hearing initial asylum claims from migrants who illegally enter the country.
“At its core, USCIS is about delivering decisions to families, businesses, workers, and those seeking refuge in our country on their applications, petitions, requests, and appeals,” USCIS Director Ur Jaddou said in a statement. “This new mission statement reflects the inclusive character of both our country and this agency. The United States is and will remain a welcoming nation that embraces people from across the world who seek family reunification, employment or professional opportunities, and humanitarian protection.”
While other DHS agency mission statements have not changed in recent years, former President Donald Trump’s USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna announced in 2018 he had rewritten the agency’s to show it served American citizens and not applicants for visas and green cards.
“People kind of naturally fall into the belief that the individuals that we serve are the people that we interact with every day when we take applications or petitions,” Cissna said at the National Press Club in 2018. “I don’t think that we serve them. We serve the people. We serve the American people who have conferred upon the agency a special mission through the Congress to administer these immigration laws.”
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The old mission statement was remade by Trump and got rid of the term “nation of immigrants” and added a line about USCIS “securing the homeland.”
“USCIS secures America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system,” the statement read prior to the Trump administration’s change.
The Trump administration in August 2018 changed the statement to: “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services administers the nation’s lawful immigration system, safeguarding its integrity and promise by efficiently and fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits while protecting Americans, securing the homeland, and honoring our values.”
Liberal groups criticized the overhaul.
In 2021, USCIS asked employees to submit language that described their work for a new mission statement.
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“USCIS is committed to ensuring that the immigration system we administer is accessible and humane. As we look towards the future, my commitment will remain the same — USCIS will continue to serve the public with respect and fairness, and lead with integrity to reflect America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility today and for generations to come,” Jaddou said.
