The Science and Technology Directorate’s Immigration Services Program develops technologies and delivers research support for DHS immigration-focused components in their missions to administer the nation’s lawful immigration system and enforce immigration laws.
Immigration Based Technologies
- Capability Roadmap Refresh of the Immigration Services Program
- End-To-End Digital Interview Process
Research and Analytics
- Push-Pull Model of Unauthorized Migration Flows
- Predicting Rates and Lengths of Nonimmigrant Overstays
Future Project Areas
- Managing Migration
- Enhance Efficient and Effective Immigration Enforcement
- Combatting Immigration Fraud and Abuse
The Immigration Services Performance Metrics Initiative. In FY24, the Performance Metrics Initiative (PMI) project sought to look in depth at how performance metrics are defined, measured, and used at USCIS. The team’s assessment of current agency measures focused on USCIS adjudication and production related metrics within three directorates: Field Operations Directorate; Service Center Operations Directorate; and Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate. As part of the study, key members of the team conducted site visits and toured the key operations of USCIS facilities. From the National Records Center in Lee’s Summit, MO, to the Miami Field Office, the site visits and interviews allowed the team to gain an increased understanding of USCIS processing and the challenges associated with backlogs, cycle-time metrics, and case adjudication. S&T delivered the final PMI presentation sessions to USCIS stakeholders in May 2024, and the final report in July 2024. The impact of this report will be significant in enabling USCIS to determine the best course of action for revising and modifying their current performance measures both internally and externally.
Did You Know?
USCIS offers non-citizens tools for determining case processing times. In FY24, the DHS S&T Immigration Services Program analyzed USCIS’ case processing methodology across directorates to identify improvement areas and ultimately provided the agency new recommendations for future metrics.
There are now over 2 million asylum claims pending in the U.S. One third of the total cases of all types are in U.S. immigration courts’ backlog. This backlog of cases means that, on average, asylum seekers wait about four years for a decision court and over six years for a decision from USCIS. The Immigration Services Program in S&T seeks to assist USCIS in achieving backlog reduction and streamlining case processing, and the Performance Metrics Initiative in 2024 was a significant step in examining USCIS case processing methodology and determining areas for improvement.
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