The latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast features the audio of a recent sit-down between Executive Director Mark Krikorian and Joseph Edlow, the newly confirmed Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In a wide-ranging discussion, Edlow laid out his priorities for the agency — from strengthening fraud detection to reforming visa programs and restoring integrity to the naturalization process.
On expanding investigative capacity, Edlow said:
"When you’re adjudicating a green card or a naturalization, that’s a law enforcement action...But this is not a police force. What we are looking at incorporating into USCIS is an investigative agency…to really do a deep dive into immigration fraud, national security issues, and other criminality within the agency’s jurisdiction."
Other highlights include:
H-1B visas: “If properly monitored and scrutinized for integrity, H-1B can be a useful tool. But my big concern is the way it keeps U.S. citizens out of the job market, especially recent STEM graduates.”
Vetting standards: “We want to know everything about these individuals… Anti-American activities at a certain level are not going to be tolerated.”
Naturalization: “Frankly, this test is just too easy. We need to make it more thought-provoking to ensure new citizens have a real attachment to the Constitution.”
Temporary Protected Status: “For the first time in a very long time we are not seeing pro-forma renewals...We are looking at all cases and the reasons for the designations, and making a determination based both on whether those conditions still apply … and looking at, again, the foreign policy considerations.”
Edlow also addressed:
