L. Francis Cissna, the director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, submitted his resignation Friday at the direction of President Trump, in step with an e-mail he sent to personnel. At the request of the President, I submitted my resignation these days effective June 1, 2019,” Cissna wrote inside the electronic mail. “During the past 20 months, every day, I even have passionately worked to perform USCIS’ undertaking to administer the kingdom’s lawful immigration gadget faithfully. We are the business enterprise charged with safeguarding its integrity and promise. According to the Washington Post, which first pronounced the resignation, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a famous firebrand who has, amongst other matters, supported movements to limit birthright citizenship, is set to replace Cissna.
Cissna’s departure is the present-day high-profile shakeup on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in current weeks. It began in early April when then appearing director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Ronald Vitiello had his nomination to lead the business enterprise withdrawn with the aid of Trump. Soon after, then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stepped down, followed with the aid of the departure of the acting deputy secretary and leader of a body of workers.
One source with knowledge of the White House’s wondering stated Cissna become perceived as “lacking the management, assertiveness and govt savvy” to manual the administration’s biggest coverage priorities in the 2d 1/2 of Trump’s first term. In phrases of key administration priorities, the quantity of unfinished paintings is splendid,” the supply stated. “Francis has been unwilling or not able to mission the bureaucracy around him to strengthen asylum requirements, close loopholes, advance seasoned-worker reforms and take the bold, decisive movement to push policy and regulations thru bureaucratic hurdles and roadblocks.
Jessica Vaughan, coverage director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a restrictive immigration organization, also said it changed into “no surprise” some within the White House have been impatient with Cissna’s stead and cautious technique to making actions. Another difficulty for him was that his precedence changed into reforming abuses inside the felony immigration system and modernizing the device to gain applicants. At the same time, a few in the White House wanted the focus to be almost completely on unlawful immigration and allowing organizations to keep away from much scrutiny,” she said.
Cissna, who served for more than a decade at DHS, was appointed to steer the business enterprise inside the early days of the Trump management. Since then, he has gained the praise of immigration restrictionists who consider he dutifully carried out Trump’s campaign guarantees to stem the flow of immigrants, such as pushing a proposal that immigrants who use or are probably to use public blessings, such as food stamps and housing vouchers, might be denied inexperienced cards or access into the United States.
Elsewhere, Cissna cracked down on the H1B visa machine, introduced plans to shut down international Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) workplaces, and took out the phrase in what many noticed as a symbolic step “country of immigrants” from the employer’s project assertion. Under his direction, the organization was considering actions to institute a rate for asylum packages and enlarge the time asylum seekers had to wait to gain painting permits.
Francis Cissna is aware of the immigration system internal out. That knowledge allowed him to spearhead a number of the maximum restrictive legal immigration policies we’ve ever seen,” said Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst on the Migration Policy Institute. “The management will likely be difficult-pressed to update him. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has formerly signaled his displeasure with Cuccinelli, which includes telling reporters that he had instructed Trump not to take up the former Virginia lawyer widespread as head of DHS.