US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director L. Francis Cissna defended Wednesday that he was an immigrant country in his mission statement to amend the agency earlier this year. The change was made to emphasize that his employees serve Americans rather than immigrant applicants.
According to the Washington Examiner report, Sisona said in an event at the National Nonprofit Research Center of the National Press Club in Washington, DC: "Who is the organization serving?" he asked. “I think people have a misunderstanding over the years... People naturally believe that the people we serve are the people we meet every day when we accept applications or petitions. I don’t think we serve them. We Serving the people. We provide services to the American people who have given the agency a special mission through Congress to manage these immigration laws."
In February of this year, CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services), a division of the US Department of Homeland Security, revised its mission statement to no longer include the term "nation of immigrants." It insists that this change was not made under the direction of President Trump or the White House.
The picture shows USSIS, USCIS Director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service. (Source: Reuters)
The old mission statement reads: “The US Immigration Service ensures the United States as an immigrant by providing accurate and useful information to our clients, granting immigration and citizen welfare, promoting citizenship and understanding, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system. National commitment."
The new statement said: "The US Citizenship and Immigration Service manages the US legal immigration system, through effective and fair rulings on immigrant welfare applications, while protecting Americans, protecting the United States, respecting our values, and maintaining their commitments in good faith."
The change was quietly carried out, but the left-wing activist group criticized the changes in USCIS.
Sisona explained to his staff by email why he thought the change was necessary, but did not issue a press release to inform the public. “USCIS employees are passionate about upholding the rule of law and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system... In order to reflect these principles and guide our future work, I am pleased to share with you our new mission statement,” Sisona wrote. “I believe this simple and clear statement clearly illustrates the role of the Immigration Service in our legal immigration system and our commitment to the American people.”