US immigration appoints new director

August 13 2009 by Rebekah Nahai

New US immigration boss for USCIS

A Cuban immigrant was sworn in yesterday as the new director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Alejandro Mayorkas will lead the agency in charge of running US immigration and naturalisation systems. He will oversee some 18,000 staff and comes to the USCIS with extensive legal experience.

He was previously the United States Attorney for California and has also been named by the National Law Journal as one of the 'Top 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers' in the country.

Mayorkas was sworn in at a ceremony at the USCIS headquarters, where he stated:

“The USCIS mission is rooted in the vision of our founding fathers. My family, like millions of others, came to this country to pursue our dreams in a land of liberty and opportunity. I am committed to administering our country’s immigration and naturalization laws efficiently and with fairness, honesty, and integrity.”

President Obama appointed Mayorkas on April 24 and he was confirmed by the Senate as the new director on August 7.

Mayorkas will be the third director of the USCIS, which is the largest immigration department in the world.

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