Rodríguez should be confirmed
The Director’s Office at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) cannot remain vacant for long. The Senate should hold its hearings and confirm attorney León Rodríguez for this post as soon as possible.
Last month the Upper Chamber finally confirmed the last USCIS Director, Alejandro Mayorkas, asDeputy Director of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency’s second-in-command. Although Rodríguez’s name has been mentioned since that time, it was only last week that the appointment was formalized, and it should also be confirmed by the Senate.
Rodríguez’s background shows him to be a person capable of managing the bureaucracy within the agency, which is in charge of immigration processes and status adjustments, citizenship matters, and fostering the integration of immigrants. His vast experience in the area of civil rights also ensures proper treatment for immigrants passing through the federal agency. This latter point is very significant with respect to the implementation of the E-Verify system.
Specifically, we hope that his work in the civil rights offices at the Justice and Health and Human Resources departments is not grounds for controversy among Republican lawmakers, as in the case of other appointees. Nor should the controversies linked to Mayorkas’s term in office regarding the EB-5 visas and his alleged fast-track for DACA delay Rodríguez’s legislative confirmation.
USCIS has a great deal of work ahead and limited resources due to the unfair absence of a federal funding allocation. The necessary steps for Rodríguez’s appointment to be placed before the Senate must be taken urgently so that, after his confirmation, he can get to work as soon as possible.
