Lori Scialabba, Associate Director, Refugee, Asylum and International Operations, USCIS

Lori Scialabba entered on duty as the Associate Director of Refugee, Asylum and International Operations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on October 1, 2006.

Before joining the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Ms. Scialabba most recently served as Chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) at the Department of Justice.  She was selected as a Board Member and appointed to the Board in March 1998 and in June 1999, she was appointed Vice Chairman.  During her tenure at the Board she had responsibility for day-to-day operations and expertly managed the BIA reorganization and the streamlining of more than 120,000 cases.

Ms. Scialabba began her career with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in October 1985 through the Attorney General’s Honor Program and served as a trial attorney for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Chicago, where she litigated deportation cases.  From 1986 to 1989, she served as Assistant General Counsel for INS Headquarters.  In 1989, she joined the Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division at DOJ where she defended immigration cases in the federal courts.  In 1994  she was appointed Deputy General Counsel for INS.  She held that position until her appointment to the Board of Immigration Appeals in 1998.

Lori Scialabba received her undergraduate degree in 1982 from the University of Maryland and her Juris Doctorate in 1985 from Memphis State University.