Apr 19 2007

USCIS Creates New Internal Security Office

Two months ago, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) created the Office of Security and Integrity (OSI), an internal office with the specific mission of ensuring USCIS maintains critical organizational security for its employees and facilities.

“USCIS must be the fairest, most secure, professional national immigration agency in the world,” said USCIS Director, Emilio Gonzales. “In order to succeed in that mission, we must ensure that our own security and integrity is beyond reproach and that our employees and facilities are secure. We developed OSI with that purpose in mind. Through the office, we will elevate and increase the visibility of USCIS internal security and integrity programs.”

OSI officially began last month, in response to an internal USCIS review that suggested the organization combine its audit liaison and the internal self inspection portions of the Office of Planning, Budget and Finance with USCIS’s Office of Security and Investigations. USCIS intends to triple OSI’s staff to a total of 64 by next year. Primary tasks for the new office include hiring more security and investigative specialists and increasing USCIS’s overall focus on integrity during its immigration officer basic training course, offered in Brunswick, GA.