Leon Rodriguez confirmed as new USCIS director

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Leon Rodriguez as the next director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Rodriguez will leave the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, where he has been director since 2011. He previously served as chief of staff and deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, overseeing cases involving discrimination based on national origin and immigration status.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Rodriguez attended Brown University and Boston College Law School. His grandparents moved to Cuba from Poland and Turkey to escape anti-Semitism.

“We are filling vacancies in senior-level positions in this department and injecting a new energy within its leadership,” said Jeh Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

President Barack Obama nominated Rodriguez in December to replace Alejandro Mayorkas, who moved to deputy secretary of DHS. Lori Scialabba has been acting director of USCIS since December.

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