U.S. Government Entities with Roles in Immigration
Lawmakers
Congress – makes immigration laws and, sometimes, representatives can provide assistance as mediators in dealing with the executive agencies
Executive Officers and Agencies
U.S. President – implements and enforces our immigration laws by overseeing the following government agencies
DHS (Department of Homeland Security) – is made up of a number of agencies with different roles in immigration:
CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) – makes decisions about who may receive immigrant status, visa renewals, work authorization, asylum and other benefits. It also issues visas to foreign nationals who are already in the United States. These are names of some of the offices that CIS operates:
ASCs – Application Support Centers (which are located throughout the country and provide fingerprinting and photograph services for immigration benefit processing)
Asylum Offices (various based on geographical area)
CSC – California Service Center
District Offices (local offices in various cities around the country)
HQ – Headquarters in Washington, DC where policy decisions are made
NBC – National Benefits Center (also called MSC for Missouri Service Center)
NRC – National Records Center
NSC – Nebraska Service Center
TSC – Texas Service Center
VSC – Vermont Service Center
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) – enforces our immigration laws throughout the country by locating and removing foreign nationals who have violated our laws.
CBP (Customs and Border Protection) – enforces our immigration and customs laws at our borders by inspecting people as they enter the country to prevent those who are not permitted to enter the country from getting in.
Border Patrol – secures our borders from people who are trying to enter the country without going through the normal inspection process.
DOS (Department of State) – oversees operations of all U.S. consulates and embassies in foreign countries. The consulates and embassies issue visas to people who are eligible to come to the United States. (DOS also provides information regarding living conditions and political developments in countries throughout the world. Its annual County Report of Human Rights is used as evidence when someone is claiming that they may be harmed if they had to go back to their country—that is, seeking asylum here.)
NVC (National Visa Center) – is part of DOS. Once visa petitions have been approved by CIS, the case file is sent to NVC where they do some preliminary processing before sending the file to a consulate for issuance of a visa.
DOJ (Department of Justice) – used to be responsible for implementing and enforcing immigration laws, but those functions are now performed by DHS. Now, DOJ reviews decisions that have been made by DHS and also defends its own decisions when they are challenged in federal court.
AG (Attorney General) – is the officer in charge of DOJ. He has some policy-making powers in determining how the immigration laws should be interpreted.
EOIR (Executive Officer for Immigration Review) – is part of DOJ and is a type of administrative court system that hears cases when ICE is trying to deport (“remove”) someone from the country.
OCIJ (Office of the Chief Immigration Judge) – is part of EOIR and oversees the “immigration courts” and immigration judges (IJs), who make initial decisions about whether someone should be removed from the country.
BIA (Board of Immigration Appeals) – is also part of EOIR and hears appeals from foreign nationals or ICE when they don’t agree with an IJ’s decision.
AAU (Administrative Appeals Unit) – is also part of DOJ and hears appeals from decisions of the CIS, usually denials of visa petitions or waiver applications
Federal Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court – has the final authority to say what our immigration laws mean and how the Executive Agencies can implement and enforce them.
U.S. Circuit Courts – are the second highest federal courts. They hear appeals from federal District Courts in many types of cases, but appeals from decisions by the EOIR usually go directly to the Circuit Courts. There are 11 Circuit Courts right now that hear cases that relate to their particular geographical areas—usually because the foreign national involved in the case lives there.
9th Circuit – the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has power to decide cases arising in the western part of the country—including California.
U.S. District Courts – have a limited role in immigration law. About the only type of immigration cases that these courts hear involve claims by detained foreign nationals that their detention is not legal. They can also order CIS to take action on cases that have been stalled for a long time—those cases are called “mandamus” actions.
