Ur Jaddou

Ur Mendoza Jaddou (born 1974)[2] is an American attorney who is the current director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security.

Ur Jaddou
6th Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Assumed office
August 3, 2021[1]
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byL. Francis Cissna
Personal details
Born1974 (age 48–49)
Chula Vista, California, U.S.
EducationStanford University (BA, MA)
University of California, Los Angeles (JD)
Fairfield University

Early life and education

Jaddou was born and raised in Chula Vista, California. Her mother is from Mexico and her father is from Iraq, of Chaldean heritage.[3][4] Jaddou earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in philosophy from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law.[5]

Career

From 2002 to 2007, Jaddou was senior counsel to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. From 2007 to 2011, she was majority chief counsel to the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. From 2012 to 2014, she was deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs for regional, global, and functional affairs. Jaddou then joined the United States Department of Homeland Security, serving as chief counsel for Citizenship and Immigration Services.[6] Since 2017, Jaddou has also been an adjunct law professor at the Washington College of Law. From 2018 to 2021, Jaddou was the director of DHS Watch, a watchdog group operated by America's Voice.[7][8]

Nomination as director of USCIS

On April 12, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Jaddou to be the director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.[3] On April 15, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[9] The Senate confirmed her on July 30, 2021 by a 47–34 vote.[10]

Leadership of USCIS

Under Jaddou, USCIS changed its mission statement in February 2022 to include words like "welcome" and "respect" for immigrants, after the Trump administration moved to emphasize that the agency's work included "securing the homeland."[11] The Trump administration also had removed the phrase, "nation of immigrants," from the agency's mission statement, prompting backlash from immigrant rights groups, but Jaddou did not restore the phrase.

Jaddou has called for USCIS to hire thousands of additional staff to address record case backlogs. She testified in Congress in April 2022 that the agency was still dealing with vacancies and morale problems experienced during the Trump administration.[12]

References
  1. "Ur M. Jaddou, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services". USCIS. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  2. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees: Ur Mendoza Jaddou
  3. "President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Key Members for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security", White House, April 12, 2021
  4. "USCIS Director's Chaldean Heritage". Chaldean News. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  5. "Biden Names Picks for USCIS, CBP (Jaddou; Magnus) - Outside News - Immigration Law - LexisNexis® Legal Newsroom". www.lexisnexis.com. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  6. "Lives On Hold: One Family's Experience In The Long Line For Immigration Services". KUER. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  7. "Ur Jaddou". America's Voice. 2018-04-29. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  8. "Biden picks 2 Trump critics for border, immigration roles". AP NEWS. 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  9. "Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, April 15, 2021
  10. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Ur Mendoza Jaddou, of California, to be Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security)". Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  11. Geneva Sands (9 February 2022). "Immigration agency adds 'respect' and 'welcome' to mission statement after Trump-era controversy". CNN. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  12. "Agency Officials Defend Biden's Proposed Hiring Surges to Congress". Government Executive. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
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