§271 Establishment of Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services

Summary

Creates a Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services inside the Department. The Bureau will be run by a Director who must report to the Deputy Secretary, have at least 5 years of management experience, and be paid at the same level as the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Border Security. The Director must set and run policies for the functions moved to the Bureau, oversee their implementation, advise the Deputy Secretary about any policies that might affect the Bureau of Border Security (including conflicts), set national immigration services priorities, meet regularly with the Ombudsman in section 272 to fix serious service problems, and require a formal response to any recommendations in the Ombudsman’s annual report within 3 months after that report is sent to Congress. Within 1 year after the effective date in section 455, the Director must create a managerial rotation program so GS–14 and higher supervisors/managers get experience in all major Bureau functions and work in at least one field office and one service center. Within 2 years after that effective date, the Secretary must report to Congress on the program. The Director may run pilot projects (under section 1573(a) of title 8) to clear or prevent backlogs in processing immigration benefit applications, such as adding or moving staff and simplifying paperwork. The Bureau takes over from the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization the decision-making on immigrant visa petitions, naturalization petitions, asylum and refugee applications, service center decisions, and all other INS decisions as they existed right before the effective date in section 455, along with the people, offices, and money that supported those functions. The Bureau must also have a Chief of Policy and Strategy to make policy recommendations, do research, and coordinate with the Border Security policy chief; a principal legal advisor to give legal advice and represent the Bureau in visa petition appeals before the Executive Office for Immigration Review; a Budget Officer to create and run the budget, handle finances, and collect payments and fines; and a Chief of the Office of Citizenship to promote citizenship training and create educational materials for foreign-born people who want to become U.S. citizens.