On April 8, 2017, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Lee Francis Cissna as the new Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) [link].
The White House press release details Cissna’s background.
Cissna Is currently serving as a Director of Immigration Policy in the Office of Policy of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Cissna previously served in the Office of Chief Counsel at the USCIS. Cissna also served with the United States Department of State (DOS) as a Foreign Service Officer stationed in Haiti and in Sweden. In between his stints in government, Cissna worked as an attorney in private practice.
The Senate will likely consider Cissna’s nomination in the coming weeks. If confirmed, he will replace Leon Rodriguez, who left office on January 20, 2017.
The current Acting Director of USCIS is James McCament, who took over on March 31, 2017 upon the resignation of the previous Acting Director of USCIS, Lori Scialabba. McCament will continue to serve as Acting Director of USCIS until a new Director is confirmed by Congress.
