Immigration Service Removes "Nation of Immigrants" From Mission Statement

What’s the story?

The Trump administration has recently updated the mission statement for the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service, removing references to America being a "nation of immigrants". Critics are calling foul, but officials insist the update is about recentering service to the American people in the agency’s list of priorities.

In an email to agency staff Thursday, obtained by The Intercept, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna announced the agency’s new mission statement, effective immediately.

The old mission statement:

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 new mission statement:

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.

Cissna focused entirely on the removal of reference to immigrants as "customers":

"…referring to applicants and petitioners for immigration benefits, and the beneficiaries of such applications and petitions, as ‘customers’ promotes an institutional culture that emphasizes the ultimate satisfaction of applicants and petitioners, rather than the correct adjudication of such applications and petitions according to the law…Use of the term leads to the erroneous belief that applicants and petitioners, rather than the American people, are whom we ultimately serve."

The USCIS was created in 2003 when the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was split into three agencies, USCIS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), under the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

What do you think?

Do you support this change in focus for the USCIS? Why or why not? Is the removal of reference to immigrants as customers the most important change here, or is the removal of the description of America as a "nation of immigrants" most important?

Tell us in the comments what you think, then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia / Creative Commons)