Jump-starting an International Career

Rebecca works at the Training, Research, and Quality Branch of the Asylum Division where she focuses on quality assurance review of sensitive cases and on such policy and procedural matters as issues concerning child asylum seekers. She joined USCIS in early 2005 as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) within the Office of Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations. Rebecca says that she particularly enjoys the range and substance of her work as well as has been satisfied working “with such an interesting, thoughtful group of people with whom I can both work seriously and enjoy myself.”

Rotational Experience
Rebecca’s work has granted her many rotational opportunities. “As a PMF, I was able to work on refugee and asylum matters from many perspectives – conducting both domestic and overseas adjudications in various locations in the U.S. and in East Africa, handling policy issues at Headquarters, and providing legal counsel both at Department of Homeland Security headquarters and at Department of State. These rotations gave me a wide-rangingunderstanding of USCIS’s Asylum Program and prepared me for the work I currently do.”

Training and Development through USCIS
She has participated in a number of training courses while at USCIS, including the Asylum Division’s 5-week Asylum Officer Basic Training Course (AOBTC) in Georgia, the DHS Instructor Training Program, the Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation’s Immigration Law Seminar, and a Congressional Briefing Seminar. Rebecca notes, “AOBTC gave me an excellent foundation for handling the responsibility of adjudicating individual asylum claims and for doing policy work at headquarters.”