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U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Seal of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
Flag of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
Agency overview
FormedJune 10, 1933[1]
DissolvedMarch 1, 2003
Superseding agency
JurisdictionUnited States federal government
HeadquartersWashington, D.C., United States
Parent agencyDepartment of Justice
Websitewww.uscis.gov
Old INS building in Seattle, WA

The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), referred to by some as former INS and by others as legacy INS,[2] ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Homeland Security [3] to three new entities – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as part of a major government reorganization following the September 11 attacks of 2001.

INS was established on March 3 1891 when the Immigration act of 1891 federal government, rather than the individual states, regulation of immigration into the United States.[4] This policy created a Bureau of Immigration with the Treasury Department. Over the years, these matters were transferred to Commerce Department, then to the Department of Labor in 1913. In 1933 the Immigration and Naturalization Service was created by an executive order, which was transferred from the Department of Labor to Department of Justice after 1940. [5]

In 2003 the administration of immigration services, including permanent residence, naturalization, asylum, and other functions became the responsibility of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), which existed only for a short time before changing to its current name, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The investigative and enforcement functions (including investigations, deportation, and intelligence) were combined with INS and U.S. Customs investigators, the Federal Protective Service, and the Federal Air Marshal Service, to create U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The border functions of the INS, which included the Border Patrol along with INS Inspectors, were combined with U.S. Customs Inspectors into the newly created U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The 2000 documentary Well-Founded Fear provided the first and only time a film crew was privy to a behind-the-scenes look at the INS asylum process in the U.S.

Mission[edit]

INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) protected and enforced the laws of naturalization, the process by which a foreign-born person becomes a citizen. The INS also tackled illegal entrance into the United States, preventing receipt of benefits such as social security or unemployment by those ineligible to receive them, and investigated, detained, and deported those illegally living in the United States.

In 1997 INS came up with five strategic considerations that were essential to monitoring peoples entry and exit to the United States:

  1. The system should be operational in all settings and would record arrivals and departures into an online database.
  2. The system should not unduly increase the amount of time a person spends in the inspection process.
  3. INS must take full advantage of modern information management technologies.
  4. To minimize costs, the system should be grafted upon already existent procedures and systems.
  5. Because many parties, both public and private, have an interest in facilitating international travel, stakeholder involvement is essential in crafting a system that would provide "equal or better" service to "the traveling public, trade and transportation interests, and the American people." [6]

Structure[edit]

At the head of the INS was a commissioner appointed by the President who reported to the Attorney General in the Department of Justice. The INS worked closely with the United Nations, the Department of State, and the Department of Health and Human Services. The INS was a very large and complex organization that had four main divisions—Programs, Field Operations, Policy and Planning, and Management—that were responsible for operations and management.

The operational functions of the INS included the Programs and Field Operations divisions. The Programs division was responsible for handling all the functions involved with enforcement and examinations, including the arrest, detaining, and deportation of illegal immigrants as well as controlling illegal and legal entry.

The Field Operations division was responsible for overseeing INS' many offices operating throughout the country and the world. The Field Operations division implemented policies and handled tasks for its three regional offices, which in turn oversaw 33 districts and 21 border areas throughout the country. Internationally, the Field Operations division oversaw the Headquarters Office of International Affairs which in turn oversaw 16 offices outside the country.

Managerial functions of the INS included the Policy and Planning and Management divisions. The Office of Policy and Planning coordinated all information for the INS and communicated with other cooperating government agencies and the public. The office was divided into three areas: the Policy Division; the Planning Division; and the Evaluation and Research Center. The second managerial division, called the Management division, was responsible for maintaining the overall mission of the INS throughout its many offices and providing administrative services to these offices. These duties were handled by the offices of Information Resources Management, Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Equal Employment Opportunity. [7]

History[edit]

File:INS 1924.jpg
Immigrant Inspectors, circa 1924

Shortly after the U.S. Civil War, some states started to pass their own immigration laws, which prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in 1875 that immigration was a federal responsibility.[8] The Immigration Act of 1891 established an Office of the Superintendent of Immigration within the Treasury Department.[9] This office was responsible for admitting, rejecting, and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the United States and for implementing national immigration policy. 'Immigrant Inspectors', as they were called then, were stationed at major U.S. ports of entry collecting manifests of arriving passengers. Its largest station was located on Ellis Island in New York harbor. Among other things, a 'head tax' of fifty cents was collected on each immigrant.

Paralleling some current immigration concerns, in the early 1900s Congress's primary interest in immigration was to protect American workers and wages: the reason it had become a federal concern in the first place. This made immigration more a matter of commerce than revenue. In 1903, Congress transferred the Bureau of Immigration to the newly created (now-defunct) Department of Commerce and Labor, and on June 10, 1933 the agency was established as the Immigration and Naturalization Service.[1]

After World War I, Congress attempted to stem the flow of immigrants, still mainly coming from Europe, by passing a law in 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 limiting the number of newcomers by assigning a quota to each nationality based upon its representation in previous U.S. Census figures. Each year, the U.S. State Department issued a limited number of visas; only those immigrants who could present valid visas were permitted entry.[10]

There were a number of predecessor agencies to INS between 1891 and 1933. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was formed in 1933 by a merger of the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization.[9]

Both those Bureaus, as well as the newly created INS, were controlled by the Department of Labor. President Franklin Roosevelt moved the INS from the Department of Labor to the Department of Justice in 1940.[9]

In November 1979, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti announced that INS "raids" would only take place at places of work, not at residences where illegal aliens were suspected of living.[11]

Outline of History[edit]

  • 1891 Office of Superintendent of Immigration created and placed in the Treasury Department
  • 1895 Office of Superintendent of Immigration upgraded to Bureau of Immigration
  • 1903 Bureau of Immigration transferred to the newly created Department of Commerce and Labor
  • 1906 Naturalization Service created and Bureau of Immigration became the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization
  • 1913 Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization divided into separate Bureaus – the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization – and placed in the new Department of Labor
  • 1924 U.S. Border Patrol created within the Bureau of Immigration 1933 The Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization reunited into a single agency, the INS
  • 1940 The INS transferred from the Department of Labor to the Department of Justice
  • 2003 The INS was abolished and its functions placed under three agencies – USCIS, ICE and CBP – within the newly created DHS [12]

In popular culture[edit]

  • The 2000 documentary film Well-Founded Fear, from filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini marked the first time that a film-crew was privy to the private proceedings at the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), where individual asylum officers ponder the often life-or-death fate of the majority of immigrants seeking asylum. It provided a high-profile behind-the-scenes look at the process for seeking asylum in the United States. The film was featured at the Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast in June 2000 on PBS as part of POV.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service". National Archives and Records Administration. Originally published 1995. Retrieved July 15, 2010. Established: In the Department of Labor by EO 6166, June 10, 1933.) {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ What's correct, the term legacy INS or the term the former INS?
  3. ^ "Overview of INS History"
  4. ^ Ellis Island, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior
  5. ^ name="Immigration in U.S. History"
  6. ^ "Immigration Policy in Turmoil" Gunderson, Theodore
  7. ^ "Immigration in U.S. History"
  8. ^ Chy Lung v. Freeman
  9. ^ a b c Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Archives. Accessed July 15, 2010
  10. ^ "Immigration in U.S. History"
  11. ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 271. ISBN 0-465-04195-7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ "USCIS.gov"

[1] Bankson, Carl,III. and Danielle A. Hidalgo, eds. Immigration In U.S. History. Vol.1 Hackensack: Salem, 2006. Print

[2] "Overview of INS History." Www.uscis.gov. U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.

[3] “Our History”. Homepage. Department of Homeland Security, 5 May 2011. Web. 16 November 2013

[4] Gunderson, Theodore.B. Immigration Policy in Turmoil. New York: Nova Science, 2002. Print.

External links[edit]

Opinions and experiences with the INS[edit]


Category:Defunct agencies of the United States government Category:Defunct federal law enforcement agencies of the United States Category:History of immigration to the United States Category:Organizations disestablished in 2003 Category:Organizations established in 1933

  1. ^ Immigration in U.S. History. Hackensack, NJ: Salem Press Inc. 2006. p. 366-370. ISBN 1587652668.
  2. ^ "Overview of INS History" (PDF). Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Our History". USCIS. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  4. ^ Gunderson, Theodore (2002). Immigration Policy in Turmoil. Huntington, NY: Nova Science Publishers. ISBN 1590331599. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
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