A few weeks ago, USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas attended a one-on-one forum at New York City’s New School. For an hour and a half the Director took questions from New School’s President Bob Kerrey and from eager forum attendees. Although I was unable to attend the forum, I recently got to watch the USCIS Director on a webcast of the forum.
Director Mayorkas must be applauded for his willingness to attend the forum and to take questions from the audience. He engaged Senator Kerrey and the crowd with answers that showed he is compassionate and committed to improving the USCIS. Nobody can question Director Mayorkas’ intentions to improve the experiences of immigrants and U.S. citizens dealing with USCIS.
However, in viewing the webcast, a few disconcerting facts arose.
First, it is obvious that Director Mayorkas, and the USCIS in general, needs to better highlight that its duty is to smoothly adjudicate immigration petitions and benefits – and not to mainly be the enforce of immigration laws. The crowd was made up of an equal mix of immigration experts and immigration novices – and it was interesting how often the director was asked questions concerning immigration enforcement and immigrant detention. Although Director Mayorkas attempted to explain that USCIS was not the main enforcer of immigration laws, it was obvious that many in the audience (and in the population in general) do not realize the purpose of USCIS. When the DHS was formed, the USCIS was meant to be the adjudicator of petitions for immigration benefits. ICE was created to be the enforcer immigration laws. The USCIS must not be made into an institution that is more focused on enforcement and not adjudication.
Second, it is obvious from listening to Director Mayorkas that he has a management approach that is too global – he needs to learn more about the immigration laws and the immigration agency’s procedures. As the Director, Mayorkas is tasked with overseeing the agency and improving its efficiency and transparency. As the director, he shouldn’t be expected to know every single immigration law – however, he should know the basics. During the forum, he demonstrated his lack of a few fundamental immigration laws. For example, he needed to be reminded what the EB-3 category is, he referred to the long wait that Filipino “cousins” had for their priority number to come due (when he meant Filipino sisters and brothers of U.S. citizens), he grossly underestimated the cost to adjust status, and he didn’t know whether or not the USCIS acknowledged gay and lesbian couples in family immigration petitions (It doesn’t).
Again, Director Mayorkas shouldn’t be expected to know all immigration laws – however, to properly direct the USCIS he should know the basics of the immigration system and the problems confronted by USCIS adjudicators and immigrants dealing with the USCIS.