Director, USCIS
PHOTO: PotomacLaw.com
This just in from Dean Kevin Johnson over at ImmigrationProf Blog:
The Biden administration looks very different from Trump’s. That much is clear.
In that vein, Hamed Aleaziz for BuzzFeed reports that
“Ur Jaddou will become the first woman and first person of Arab and Mexican descent to be sworn in as director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services after the Senate confirmed her nomination on Friday.
The agency has not had a Senate-confirmed leader in more than two years . . . . ”
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas released this statement on Jaddou’s confirmation:
“It is my honor to congratulate Ur Mendoza Jaddou on her confirmation as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ur has two decades of experience in immigration law, policy, and administration. She will administer our Nation’s immigration system fairly and justly. As the daughter of hard-working immigrants, Ur understands how immigrant families enrich our country and the challenges they face. I want to thank the United States Senate for confirming Ur. I look forward to working closely with her to rebuild and restore trust in our immigration system.”
In announcing Jaddou’s nomination, President Biden offered the following biography:
“Ur Mendoza Jaddou has two decades of experience in immigration law, policy, and administration. Most recently, she was the Director of DHS Watch, a project of America’s Voice, where she shined a light on immigration policies and administration that failed to adhere to basic principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability. She is an adjunct professor of law at American University, Washington College of Law and counsel at Potomac Law Group, PLLC. Previously, Jaddou was the Chief Counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) . . . from June 2014 to January 2017. Jaddou’s experience on immigration policy began as counsel to U.S. House of Representative Zoe Lofgren (2002-2007) and later as Chief Counsel to the House Immigration Subcommittee chaired by Rep. Lofgren (2007-2011). Jaddou has also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional, Global and Functional Affairs in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of State (2012-2014). Jaddou is a daughter of immigrants – a mother from Mexico and a father from Iraq – born and raised in Chula Vista, California. She received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Stanford University and a law degree from UCLA School of Law. ” (bold added).
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Great choice, and congrats to Ur!
USCIS was one of the “major victims” of the Trump immigration kakistocracy! Overt xenophobia and malicious incompetence literally “bankrupted” what was once one of the USG’s few self-supporting and “money making” operations. Think about that the next time some GOP “magamoron” babbles on about “fiscal responsibility!”
Wonderful as this news is, Ur would have been even better as Director of EOIR or BIA Chair. THAT’S where the real “progressive leadership gap” and absence of “practical scholarship and experience in understanding and respecting the rights of migrants” is so glaring and debilitating. Also, I think that without better qualified, enlightened, progressive leadership at EOIR (or Article 1) many “reforms” at USCIS will be ineffective or not achieve their full potential.
For example, the Asylum Offices are a key component of USCIS. But the lousy guidance and precedent setting from past AGs and the BIA has severely limited the ability of the Asylum Office to achieve its full potential.
Former President, National
Association of Immigration Judges (“NAIJ”)
Ur does have some much needed help from experienced USCIS Chief Counsel Judge Ashley Tabaddor, former President of the NAIJ. Perhaps, working together, they can get the attention of Garland, Monaco, Gupta, and Clarke and successfully urge some long overdue progressive, due-process-oriented changes and better judicial appointments at EOIR.
🇺🇸Due Process Forever!
PWS
08-02-21