September 2, 2005

Presidential Nominee For the New Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services

Emilio T. Gonzalez, of Florida, has been announced as the President’s nominee as the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Gonzalez currently serves as Senior Managing Director of Global and Government Affairs for a private firm. Pr eviously, he was Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs for the National Security Council. Dr. Gonzalez has also served in the U. S. Army, and holding posts at the U.S. Embassies in El Salvador and Mexico and as the Director of the Office of Special Assistants for the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Southern Command.

Dr. Gonzalez would replace former Director Eduardo Aguirre who resigned this position in July. Director Aguirre held this position from June 2003 through July 2005 and supervised the transition of the service and benefit functions of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) into the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) , part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In support of the DHS overall mission, the priorities of the USCIS are to promote national security, continue to eliminate immigration case backlogs, and improve customer service. USCIS ' ultimate goal is to fundamentally transform and improve the delivery of immigration and citizenship services. USCIS is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and establishing immigration services policies and priorities. Fifteen thousand (15,000) federal employees and contractors working in approximately 250 Headquarters and field offices around the world comprise the USCIS.

With the significant transitions, security measures and restructuring taking place over the last few years, running this agency is not an easy task, but with the transformations over the past two years, the immigration community has witnessed significant changes in processing times and procedures. Greenberg Traurig continues to provide feedback to the relevant governmental agencies, to the White House and to Congress to promote the interests of our clients and the immigration community.