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Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Michael T. Dougherty

Mr. Michael T. Dougherty was appointed as the second Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman by Secretary Michael Chertoff on March 3, 2008.

Before assuming his current duties as Ombudsman, Mr. Dougherty served as Legislative Counsel on the personal staff of Senator Jon Kyl, and also staffed the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security within the Senate Judiciary Committee. He assisted in the drafting and negotiation of the 2007 bipartisan immigration reform effort in the Senate.

Mr. Dougherty previously served as Senior Policy Advisor for Immigration at the DHS’ Border and Transportation Security Directorate, Office of Policy and Planning. Mr. Dougherty advised senior Department officials on homeland security and immigration policy issues, and led efforts to expand legal authorities for the Department.

Mr. Dougherty has also served at the Department of Justice as a Trial Attorney for the Office of Immigration Litigation, where he litigated 100 immigration cases in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal; as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he litigated cases in U.S. District Court and before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; and as an Attorney Advisor for the Board of Immigration Appeals within the Executive Office for Immigration Review. 

In addition, Mr. Dougherty has served as an Administrative Judge for the U.S. Merit System Protection Board. 

Mr. Dougherty earned his B.A. from the Catholic University of America (1985) and J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America (1988). He is a member of the Maryland Bar Association and the Bar of the District of Columbia.

This page was last modified on July 18, 2008