Updated 2:36 p.m.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that grants citizenship to newly arrived U.S. immigrants is removing the term “nation of immigrants” from its mission statement.
The old statement read:
“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 statement now reads:
“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.”
USCIS Director Francis Cissna, in announcing the change, wrote to staff members, “I believe this simple, straightforward statement clearly defines the agency’s role in our country’s lawful immigration system and the commitment we have to the American people.”
Cissna also took exception with the word “customers” being used, arguing that it places the focus of the agency on the wrong group of people. “In particular, referring to applicants…as ‘customers’ promotes an institutional culture that emphasizes the ultimate satisfaction of applicants…rather than the correct adjudication of such applications and petitions according to the law,” Cissna wrote.
“Use of the term leads to the erroneous belief that applicants and petitioners, rather than the American people, are whom we ultimately serve,” he added.
Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at D.C.-based Human Rights First, criticized the move, saying, “We cannot separate ‘immigrants’ from ‘Americans’—we are intrinsically linked as children, parents, neighbors, and loved ones. By seeking to distinguish between the two, the administration is turning its back on our nation’s proud history and engaging in dangerous revisionism.”
But NumbersUSA, an immigration-reduction organization, applauded the announcement. In a statement to ITN, Chris Chmielenski, Director of Content & Activism wrote, “NumbersUSA applauds USCIS for a focused mission statement with clear goals and objectives while reinforcing the need to protect Americans, secure the homeland, and honor our values. Every government agency should remember that it serves Americans and American interests first and foremost. It’s great to see USCIS doing exactly that.”