Senate confirms first woman of Arab and Mexican descent to lead USCIS

Ur Jaddou will become the first woman and the first person of Arab and Mexican descent to be sworn in as director of U.S. citizenship and immigration services after the Senate confirmed her appointment on Friday.

The agency has not had a Senate-confirmed leader for more than two years, despite being an integral part of the immigration system: USCIS agents issue work permits, conduct initial checks asylum claims that determine whether immigrants can seek protection in the United States, and issue green cards and naturalizations, among other tasks.

Jaddou, the daughter of Mexican and Iraqi immigrants, was previously the senior counsel for USCIS during the Obama administration.

“I have the honor to congratulate Ur Mendoza Jaddou on his confirmation as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ur has two decades of experience in immigration law, policy and administration, ”Homeland Security Ministry Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with her to rebuild and restore confidence in our immigration system. “

Jaddou’s confirmation comes after years of massive changes under the Trump administration. USCIS has focused on ways to more effectively screen and deliver immigration benefits to the adoption of policies to prevent immigrants at the border and elsewhere from entering the United States. He also released proposals to charge asylum claims, limit access to U.S. border protections, and deny permanent residence to immigrants who officials say were likely to use public benefits.

The selection of interim executives to head the agency during the second half of the Trump administration also caused legal problems. In March 2020, a federal judge in Washington, DC, ruled that Ken Cuccinelli, the former acting USCIS, had not been legally appointed to the post.

Under the Biden administration, the agency took steps to shed this legacy by reversing previous restrictive immigration policies, removing a previous modification of the U.S. citizenship test, and changing the way immigrants are discussed in public and within the department by no longer referring to them. as “extraterrestrials”.

The public charge rule, or the so-called wealth test to limit green cards to those who were likely to access public benefits, has been dropped. A Trump-era proposal that aimed to dramatically increase the number of immigrants required to submit biometric data for their applications, while increasing the personal information the government can require, such as eye scans, voice prints, l DNA, and photographs for facial recognition, has also been scrapped.

USCIS also faced serious economic challenges. Last August, agency officials canceled a scheduled leave of over 13,000 employees, which was to put an end to the immigration system. USCIS officials warned Congress that the agency, which is primarily funded by fees, was running out of money due to a drop in claims during the pandemic and needed an influx of $ 1.2 billion. of dollars.