Читать книгу U.S. Citizenship For Dummies - Jennifer Gagliardi - Страница 40

In 2002, Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) was incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and INS functions were delegated to three separate agencies: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). USCIS performs many of the duties of the former INS, focusing on immigration cases, including applications for work visas, asylum, and naturalization. (See the sidebar “A day in the life of USCIS” later in this chapter.)

On Presidents’ Day, 2018, USCIS updated its mission statement to reflect national security concerns and express the agency’s commitment to core values of integrity, respect, innovation, and vigilance, as follows:

“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.”

The U.S. immigration system works to achieve three main goals:

 Bringing and keeping families together: U.S. immigration laws are designed to encourage families to stay together when possible. Immigrating through a family connection is the most common way people come to the United States.

 Supplying a qualified workforce to keep the United States prosperin: Another of the USCIS’s duties is to help supplement the U.S. workforce by ensuring that there are enough foreign workers to fill positions not filled by U.S. workers.

 Providing safe refuge and asylum: The USCIS also exists to help those who are seeking a safe refuge in the United States from political, religious, or social persecution in their home countries.