U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is changing its mission statement to eliminate a passage that describes the United States as “a nation of immigrants.”
The agency’s new mission statement as it appears on the agency’s website reads:
“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services administers the nation’s lawful immigration system, safeguarding its integrity and promise by efficiently and fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits while protecting Americans, securing the homeland, and honoring our values.”
Here is USCIS’s previous mission statement:
“USCIS secures America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system.”
The removal of the phrase “nation of immigrants” was announced to agency staff in an email letter from Director L. Francis Cissna.
