INS Immigration

INS immigration services were transferred to new agencies upon the reorganization of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. After the devastating attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, the government overhauled the immigration, customs, and enforcement responsibilities of every relevant agency. The intent was to sharpen the mission of each entity in order to prevent terrorist acts and criminal activity from penetrating U.S. borders.

Oversight of INS immigration laws, services, and benefits was placed in one of the new agencies, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS). This entity now administers immigrant and nonimmigrant sponsorship, adjustment of status, asylum or refugee status, work authorization, and naturalization. This was just one of the old INS responsibilities; the two other major duties have also been parceled out to other agencies.

Current INS Immigration Responsibilities

The other two important areas are customs and enforcement of immigration laws. Customs supervision has been given to another new agency, Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This government entity operates customs inspections at ports of entry, and has responsibility for border management and immigration enforcement at these ports.

The final duty of the old INS immigration service was enforcement of immigration and customs laws and regulations. This has been handed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is charged with preventing terrorism by interdicting various immigration and criminal activity, such as human trafficking and arms smuggling. All three of these entities that replaced the INS were officially given their duties on March 1, 2003. They are part of the Department of Homeland Security.