U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced to that it is creating an internal division designed to more closely oversee its own immigration caseworkers. According to information obtained by the Washington Post, this move may be prompted by a desire to rein in caseworkers who are more lenient with individuals who are seeking residency or citizenship. While the 19,000 USCIS employees and contractors have received no information about the structure of the new division, internal information suggests that some employees are being quietly reassigned to the division.
The new USCIS office, named the Organization of Professional Responsibility, will have three divisions to help oversee the estimated 26,000 immigration applications that USCIS adjudicates daily. One of these divisions will be an Investigations Division, which will investigate cases involving “fraud, waste, abuse, or misconduct by USCIS employees.” The new office will also have a Counterintelligence Division, whose goal will be to reduce vulnerability to penetration by foreign government and criminals, and an Inspections Division, which will “conduct independent reviews of specific aspects of agency compliance.”
This announcement from USCIS is consistent with its other actions in recent months to move the agency away from serving customers and welcoming immigrants to abiding by increasingly stricter immigration laws. More specifically, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna has removed the phrase “America’s promise as a nation of immigrants” from the agency’s mission statement, and has instructed its employees to refer to immigrants as “applicants” rather than “customers.”
If you have an immigration case or court proceeding pending, you are entitled to certain rights. Whether you are detained or simply facing deportation proceedings, you need legal assistance today to fight for those rights and work toward the relief that you are seeking. We will put forth our full efforts to win your release from detention, defend you against deportation charges, and restore your family. There are a variety of defenses against deportation that may apply to your immigration case. The Texas deportation defense attorneys of Peek Law Group know how to help you navigate through the maze of deportation proceedings and get the relief that you need. Take the first step today and secure the future of your family in the U.S. Contact our office today at and set up an evaluation with one of our highly skilled Texas immigration lawyers.