Speaker:

Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), Department of Homeland Security

Commentators:

• Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute
• Palma Yanni, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association
• David Martin, Professor of Law, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights at the University of Virginia.

Doris Meissner, MPI Senior Fellow

On September 3, 2003, the Migration Policy Institute hosted a panel discussion with Eduardo Aguirre, Jr., Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), Department of Homeland Security, to provide him with an opportunity to discuss his vision for the bureau and his plans for the upcoming year, as well as to interact with the variety of interested parties in attendance. These were his first public remarks since being sworn in as Director on August 15, 2003. The bureau assumed the immigration services functions previously performed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in March 2003.

The panel was chaired by MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner. Commentators included Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Palma Yanni, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and David Martin, Professor of Law, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights at the University of Virginia.

Eduardo Aguirre's Remarks

Throughout his remarks, Eduardo Aguirre highlighted his vision for the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services as an organization that provides efficient services in a timely manner. He began with a brief overview of his past, noting his own sensitivity to the issues (gained from his personal experience as a 15-year-old Cuban boy immigrating alone to the United States) and strong business sense (based on his experience as vice chairman and chief operating officer at the Export-Import Bank), which contribute to his abilities to serve effectively and competently. Aguirre defined three major goals: reducing backlogs in the adjudications process while maintaining national security, providing services in an appropriate, timely manner, and restoring the integrity in the immigration services system, which will earn it public support.

Aware of comparisons with the enforcement-oriented bureaus, Aguirre emphasized that immigration services have been receiving and will continue to receive appropriate attention and funding, and that he has the necessary access to senior officials. He stated his intent to empower his staff to make decisions and highlighted President Bush's commitment to reducing the backlog, particularly the five-year, $500 million initiative aimed at a six-month standard for application processing. As further evidence of the steady improvements within BCIS, Aguirre noted the electronic-filing program that was initiated in late August. Nonetheless, without real efforts to reduce the application backlog, he acknowledged that such improvements in filing processes are moot.

Aguirre specified eight initiatives identified to help reduce backlogs, including:

• streamlining family-based adjudications
• pre-certifying businesses that petition for employees
• reducing unnecessary and self-imposed requirements (such as having to re-issue work authorization documents annually) and
• improving processing and identity verification through the collection of biometric identifiers.

Aguirre also recognized that the security measures established in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11 have had serious implications for refugee processing, as well as for the adjudication of applications. Aguirre presented a number of strategies for countering the serious delays in overseas processing, including a permanent corps of refugee officers and a review of the statutory cap on asylum adjustments. Aguirre concluded by announcing the development of a new citizenship oath and a pilot project to standardize the citizenship test. Moreover, he is reviving efforts on citizenship education through an Office of Citizenship and will aim to attract citizenship applications from those eligible.

Commentators

Tamar Jacoby, from the Manhattan Institute, focused her remarks on utilizing the opportunity that BCIS has to make valuable changes in the citizenship process. Jacoby pointed to some of the positive steps initiated by the new bureau, including an Office of Citizenship and the celebrations planned for September 17, Citizenship Day.

Jacoby stressed the importance of immigrant absorption and integration, concluding that historically, the United States has been a nation in which newcomers become full members over time. She also added that a proactive citizenship policy is not only in line with American ideals, but that it is, in fact, "good politics," and can be achieved through bipartisan associations. Jacoby said that it is not solely the responsibility of the government to work toward incorporating immigrants, but that civil society and business must be involved as well. However, the government must provide significant funding for grants as well as establish visible forms of outreach. She suggested the creation of citizenship classes based on a curriculum designed by a high profile panel of scholars and civic leaders in order to add meaning to the citizenship process.

Palma Yanni, from the American Immigration Lawyers Association, addressed the two major problems in services today: backlogs and inconsistent adjudications. Yanni, the spokeswoman for 8,000 immigration lawyers and professors, represents the largest "consumer group" within the system, and finds that immigration services are not currently meeting the needs of their clients. There is very little confidence among immigration lawyers in the newly formed BCIS based on the degree to which they see mistakes being made and resources being wasted.

Yanni suggested a long range automation plan in conjunction with the elimination of duplicative work to reduce the overload of paper and waste of staff time. Additionally, she warned of the problems that are arising due to the lack of carefully coordinated services and enforcement, as exemplified by the removal of individuals with pending applications.

David Martin, from the University of Virginia, lauded some of the achievements of the newly formed bureau, but asserted the need for creating well-established lines of authority to clarify decision-making and address inter-agency policy issues. He then addressed the backlog, explaining that adequate resources are required to reduce the ever-growing problem. In particular, appropriated funds for immigration processing are needed, along with a restructuring of service fees to help bring new capital into the system. Doing so might help BCIS reach the blanket six-month processing goal, while significantly improving the system's integrity and building public support. In terms of refugee processing, he echoed and supported Aguirre's plans for a permanent corps, rather than the current reliance on temporary duty workers, as well as the elimination of a cap on asylum adjustments.

Martin briefly analyzed the relationship between BCIS and the Department of Justice and concluded that duplicate regulations, which currently exist, are unnecessary and counterproductive to the goal of a unified, comprehensive system. Finally, noting the myriad of interconnected issues, Martin recommended the creation of a high-level immigration policy chief to act as a supervisor between the bureaus and advocate for proactive policy leadership.

Question and Answer

One theme present through many of the questions related to the overlap and coordination between the work of BCIS and the work of other DHS bureaus, as well as other government agencies.

For example, one attendee raised the difficulty in having applications processed within the time allocated by the courts. Another expressed frustration regarding the lack of a point person within DHS on expedited removal, an issue encompassing multiple components of DHS. Moreover, another participant noted anxiety among many immigration-related stakeholders about the government's ability (or lack thereof) to appropriately balance security concerns with service needs. Questions also were asked regarding the Bureau's willingness to work with the non-profit sector and willingness to act as an advocate for the immigrant community.

Mr. Aguirre recognized that there could be some confusion about the different agencies and their designated responsibilities but that neither he nor anyone else wants the DHS mission to fail because of turf battles. Success or failure will reflect on the new Department as a whole, not simply one bureau. He further noted that Congress specifically did not want an immigration czar and that the inter-agency working groups that exist focus primarily on operational, rather than philosophical issues.

Mr. Aguirre stated that he is looking forward to partnering with the non-profit sector and that the agency must do so to succeed. Further, he will aim to be as responsive and expedient as possible while using existing personnel resources. Finally, he reiterated his intention to focus on backlog reduction and customer satisfaction.