Building a Ready and Resilient Nation

Over the past few months I have been laying out the five main areas of responsibility of the Department.

In July, I outlined our approach to our first priority – countering the threat of a terrorist attack. In August, I spoke about the new approach we’re taking to border security.

Today, in remarks at the American Red Cross, I’m speaking about another important mission: readiness and resilience.

Our nation may be better prepared than we were before 9/11. But there is much more we can – and should – do. And to get there, we must treat our nation’s preparedness as a shared responsibility, one where everyone has a role to play.

Civilians are usually the first to arrive in a crisis, and history shows that they are critical in those important first minutes. And these citizen responders can be an even more potent force by:

• Taking CPR training from the Red Cross
• Training with a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
• Knowing when to take shelter or evacuate
• Pre-planning evacuation routes and where to meet after a disaster strikes

If a disaster struck your hometown, that training, those skills, and those plans would free up first responders and emergency personnel to focus on those most in need.

So today, I’m calling on all Americans, across the country, to do two things.

First, take these basic steps:

1. get an emergency kit;
2. make a family reunification plan; and
3. become informed about the types of emergencies your community is most likely to encounter.

Second, I’m asking all of us who are in book clubs, prayer groups, school boards, alumni associations, or other community organizations, simply to raise your hand and ask, “What’s our plan?”

Together, we can build a culture of readiness and resilience, and together we can build a more secure future.

Janet Napolitano

Exciting Changes at USCIS

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