As the new Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself to readers of the Leadership Journal and to share a few thoughts with you about my vision for our agency, some of the principles that will guide our efforts, and some exciting changes underway that will help us better serve the public.

I came to the United States in 1960, having fled Cuba with my parents and my sister. I was later granted citizenship through the beneficence of the United States government. I understand deeply the gravity as well as the nobility of our mission at USCIS: to administer our country’s immigration laws efficiently and with fairness, honesty, and integrity.

I believe there are four principles that should help us define how we work. First, we must be a customer-focused agency, always mindful of the needs and views of those who seek our services. To this end, we must actively solicit input and feedback from stakeholders and the public so that a variety of views inform our decisions. Second, we must be good and careful stewards of taxpayer resources, cutting costs and improving efficiency wherever possible. Third, we must be transparent in our efforts; the public deserves and is entitled to know how we operate and what our successes and our challenges are. And finally, we must strive for consistency in our operations so that the services we provide meet the same high standards regardless of where they are sought.

Today our agency took a major step forward to put these ideas into action. After much hard work, including substantial feedback from the public, we launched a new and vastly improved USCIS.gov website. This new one-stop-shop will provide a range of tools and features for those looking for information, including case status updates. For example:

• The site features a My Case Status tool that allows users to type in a receipt number and find out what processing step their case is in, how that fits into the overall process, and what the local case processing times are.
• A National Dashboard that allows the public to compare national processing volumes and trends and download raw data.
• A better search engine so it is easier to find what a user is looking for.
• New options to receive status updates via email or text alerts.

This new website reflects our commitment at USCIS to continually improve how we do business. It is one of many changes in the works that will help us be a more effective, transparent, and responsive agency. Stay tuned for more to come. In the meantime, I hope you find the new site useful.

Alejandro Mayorkas
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

The new “My Case Status” function above allows customers to sign in with a receipt number, and check the status of their application. They will also be able to sign up for email and text alerts for the first time, to let them know what step of the process their application is in.

For example, the new USCIS.gov website includes a “Where to Start” tool that helps customers easily navigate the new site, a “My Case Status” tool that allows customers to check the status of their application via email and text message alerts, and a “National Dashboard” that provides national data on volumes and trends in the immigration system. We are also proud to introduce a Spanish language version of our website, which is available at: www.uscis.gov/espanol.

Take a minute to check out the new site today and spread the word!

Yesterday I had the honor of addressing more than a thousand of our nation’s veterans at the American Legion Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

Veterans hold a special place in our country, but they also hold a special place at the Department of Homeland Security. Roughly a quarter of our workforce consists of veterans, including more than 2,100 service-disabled veterans. Every day these men and women, who already have sacrificed so much for our nation, are helping achieve our mission to secure the country.

I told veterans gathered at the conference that we are firmly committed to increasing their ranks at DHS. Indeed, we have set a goal of employing 50,000 veterans at the Department by 2012. We are well on our way to achieve that goal – hiring 3,000 veterans since January of this year.

But our efforts aren’t just about numbers. We are also expanding partnerships and outreach to veterans across the United States. For example, we are creating greater opportunities for Veteran Owned Small Businesses and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses to do business with the Department. Last year, veteran-owned small businesses won more than $931 million in prime contracts from DHS.

And our first-ever job fair for veterans drew more than 750 participants this summer.

Through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, we’ve also continued to grant citizenship to tens of thousands of our men and women in uniform who have become American citizens while at the same time serving in our Armed Forces. We will continue to do even more this year and in the future.

In Louisville, I thanked the American Legion, as well as the American Legion Auxiliary, for their strong support for programs like Citizen Corps, which is creating more prepared communities through service and citizen engagement.

I also called on the Legion to continue to support these and other efforts to help build a culture of preparedness and resiliency in America. That includes taking action to boost personal preparedness and spread the word about important resources like Ready.gov. This is especially important as we prepare for the possibility of an H1N1 outbreak this fall.

We must bring a sense of shared responsibility to this effort. Veterans are in a unique position to help us meet this challenge, as they’ve done throughout our nation’s history. We are proud to have them as members of the Department and critical partners in our nation’s homeland security mission.

Janet Napolitano

On Friday, February 27, I had the distinct privilege of participating in a Naturalization Ceremony at the Washington District Office in Fairfax, Va. Among the ceremony's 30 candidates was a young man with an inspiring story that reminds us of the importance of our work at USCIS and the priceless value of the life and liberties we cherish as Americans.

Marine Lance Corporal Jose Gasca, a native of Mexico, served in Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. Lance Corporal Gasca lost both his legs to an improvised explosive device during combat operations last September. He's currently undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he is learning to walk once again.

When Lance Corporal Gasca, with his wife and young son by his side, raised his right hand to take the Oath of Allegiance, he joined a long line of naturalized American heroes who served and sacrificed on behalf of our nation before becoming American citizens. There are few words I can use to describe the overwhelming sense of appreciation and admiration I have for men and women like Lance Corporal Gasca. As an agency, we best express that gratitude by completing military naturalization cases as quickly as possible.

USCIS employees who work with immigrant service members consider this responsibility both a privilege and an honor. In partnership with the Department of Defense, we do all we can to ensure that as many military applications as possible are processed and completed before these brave men and women are deployed to combat zones overseas.

In total, USCIS naturalized more than one million citizens during fiscal year 2008 and we've naturalized more than 45,000 U.S. service members since September 2001. Each new American has made a personal sacrifice to become part of our American fabric. None, however, have made more striking sacrifices than Jose Gasca and his fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who voluntarily took up arms to defend rights and liberties they had yet to secure for themselves or their families.

Mike Aytes, Acting Deputy Director
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services