Talk:United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

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[edit] Restored some changes

Hello, I put back some paragraphs that were removed. They concerned the name changes and also level of efficency of the USCIS/BCIS/INS. I believe that these are relevent, worth mentioning, and reflect the on-going changes since Sept 11th in US Government. Also, I believe concerns regarding agencys performance are accurate, well known, and not a reflection of a bias or represent a hidden motive.

If people disagree (or agree!) I'd love to discuss it further. I'm kind of new to Wikipedia so I hope this is the correct way to do things!

Regards, Nycmstar 23:14, 14 October 2005 (UTC)


Hey there - I had removed it the paragraph the first time because it was a bit imprecise. I've taken another shot at modifying the language to make it more accurate.

Most importantly, USCIS is not the same as the old INS; it is only a piece of what INS used to be responsible for. The considerable enforcement functions, which include the Border Patrol, the Inspections Program, the Investigations Program, the Intelligence Program, the Detention and Removal Program, and the General Counsel, were transferred to different agencies within DHS (ICE and CBP). Therefore, it cannot be said that the INS was transformed into USCIS - the INS was actually abolished and its functions distributed among three new agencies of which USCIS is only one. Also, the use of "BCIS" is outdated, the agency should only be referred to as USCIS. In terms of nomenclature, DHS is a Department; USCIS is an agency (not the other way around).

INS' ineffectiveness is indeed generally accepted and could be included. However the reason shouldn't be attributed solely to "not screening applicants," though clearly that was one manifestation of the agency's (many) woes.