The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security,roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism,border security,immigration and customs,cyber security,and disaster prevention and management.
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003.
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security,the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the Terrorist attacks of September 11,2001.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
Parole,in the immigration laws of the United States,generally refers to official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the United States,under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS),without formal admission,and while remaining an applicant for admission.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and immigration system. It is a successor to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS),which was dissolved by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and replaced by three components within the DHS:USCIS,Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
An H-4 visa is a United States visa issued to dependent family members of H-1B,H-1B1,H-2A,H-2B,and H-3 visa holders to allow them to travel to the United States to accompany or reunite with the principal visa holder. A dependent family member is a spouse or unmarried child under the age of 21. If a dependent of an H-1B,H-1B1,H-2A,H-2B,or H-3 worker is already in the United States,they can apply for H-4 immigration status by filing Form I-539 for change of status with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Kenneth Thomas "Cooch”Cuccinelli II is an American lawyer and politician who served as the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party,he also served as the Principal Deputy and acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and was Attorney General of Virginia from 2010 to 2014.
Temporary protected status (TPS) is given by the United States government to eligible nationals of designated countries,as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,who are present in the United States. In general,the Secretary of Homeland Security may grant temporary protected status to people already present in the United States who are nationals of a country experiencing ongoing armed conflict,an environmental disaster,or any temporary or extraordinary conditions that would prevent the foreign national from returning safely and assimilating into their duty. Temporary protected status allows beneficiaries to live and,in some cases,work in the United States for a limited amount of time. As of March 2022,there are more than 400,000 foreign nationals in Temporary Protected Status.
Alejandro Nicolas Mayorkas is an American attorney and government official who was the 7th United States secretary of homeland security,serving from 2021 until 2025. A member of the Democratic Party,Mayorkas previously served as the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013,and the 6th deputy secretary of homeland security from 2013 to 2016.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who,on June 15,2012,were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigration status after having entered the country as children at least five years earlier,to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for an employment authorization document.
The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office was a U.S. government agency established within the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration in February 2017. President Donald Trump directed it be established by Executive Order 13768. The office was dissolved by the Biden administration on June 11,2021,replaced by the Victims Engagement and Services Line (VESL).
Claire M. Grady is a former American government official who served in areas of national defense and security procurement. She served as the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management,as well as the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from August 2017 until April 2019. Prior to assuming her the role,she served as director of defense procurement and acquisition policy at the United States Department of Defense. In her previous capacity in the U.S. Department of Defense,Grady was a member of the Defense Acquisition Board.
Kirstjen Michele Nielsen is an American attorney who served as United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019. She is a former principal White House deputy chief of staff to President Donald Trump,and was chief of staff to John F. Kelly during his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California,591 U.S. 1 (2020),was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held by a 5–4 vote that a 2017 U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) order to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program was "arbitrary and capricious" under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and reversed the order.
Wolf v. Vidal,591 U.S. ___ (2020),was a case that was filed to challenge the Trump Administration's rescission of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Plaintiffs in the case are DACA recipients who argue that the rescission decision is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment. On February 13,2018,Judge Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York addressed the question of whether the government offered a legally adequate reason for ending the DACA program. The court found that Defendants did not provide a legally adequate reason for ending the DACA program and that the decision to end DACA was arbitrary and capricious. Defendants have appealed the decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Beginning in 2019,multiple appointments of acting officials in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were questioned,on the basis of whether the appointments were legal under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. After the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019,the Trump administration did not formally nominate a new secretary to be confirmed by the Senate,relying on acting postings.
Ur Mendoza Jaddou is an American attorney who served as the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security from 2021 to 2025.
The Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. During July 2010 the position's title was changed from Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
