Question: I am trying to follow the updates since the Immigration and Naturalization Services ceased to exist. However, I am having a very difficult time understanding all the new departments. Can you please explain?
Answer: Yes, on March 1, the INS ceased to exist. All of the agency’s immigration functions were divided and transferred into three bureaus within the Department of Homeland Security. The transition affects everything from bringing in international employees for business meetings, to the processing of pending cases that were sent to the INS, to the work authorization and visa documentation foreign nationals currently hold.
Question: Can you explain what these new departments are within the Department of Homeland Security?
Answer: The three bureaus (the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE), and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP)) are now responsible for all the immigration services and enforcement functions. This does not include the Immigration Court.
Question: What does the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services do?
Answer: The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) is responsible for immigration services and benefits including: the adjudication of family- and employment-based petitions; issuance of employment authorization documents; asylum and refugee processing; naturalization; and implementation of special status programs such as Temporary Protected Status. At least during the transition phase, the bureau’s structure and functions will remain fairly similar to the old INS. The former INS District Offices (newly titled local BCIS offices); Application Support Centers (ASC), Service Centers and Asylum offices will remain open and in the same locations for this transition period.
This bureau will continue to process pending applications previously filed with the INS, and will maintain the validity of documentation issued by the former INS, such as: green cards, certificates of citizenship, employment authorization documents, travel and advance parole documents, Form I-94 Arrival and Departure Records, and others.
Question: What does the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement do?
Answer: The BICE handles the investigative and interior enforcement functions of the former INS, U.S. Customs Service, and the Federal Protective Services. The bureau is responsible for the detention and removal of criminal aliens, dismantling smuggling operations or trafficking of aliens, building partnerships to solve local problems, minimizing immigration benefit and document fraud, and conducting INS raids.
The bureau consists of approximately 14,000 employees, and is headed by an Assistant Secretary, who reports directly to the Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security.
Question: Finally, what are the functions of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection?
Answer: The BCBP is responsible for the Border Patrol, immigration investigations, and the inspections process at the borders. Prior to March 1, the ports of entry were supervised by several distinct chains of command and inspections personnel for the U.S. Customs, INS and other federal agencies. As of March 1, BCBP became the sole governmental presence along the border and at the ports of entry. The new bureau fused the old agencies’ chains of command at each port of entry into one common chain and put all inspectors under a single port director. The bureau also put the former INS enforcement personnel at the border in a supervisory position above former INS investigators. This is the first time that the immigration investigations functions are subordinate to enforcement. However, it still remains unclear how this change will affect admissions to the U.S. The bureau consists of 30,000 employees.
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