USCIS Celebrates Public Service Recognition Week

USCIS Employees Uphold America's Promise as a Nation of Welcome and Possibility

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is honoring its dedicated workforce during Public Service Recognition Week, May 7-13. Celebrated during the first full week in May since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week is a time set aside to honor those who serve our nation as federal, state, county, and local government employees.

"The work USCIS employees perform each day makes it possible for so many immigrants to realize their dream of calling America home, while enriching our nation as a whole," said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou. "As an agency, we continue to improve our systems in order to provide the best possible experience to those we serve. To that end, last year we set out to hire more personnel, and I am delighted that USCIS welcomed nearly 3,000 new employees to our agency in 2022, and more than 4,000 USCIS employees have grown into new positions within the agency."

In January, USCIS released its FY 2023-2026 Strategic Plan (PDF, 6.81 MB), which provides a roadmap for the agency's workforce to better strengthen its capabilities and help the country reach its highest ideals. The plan is grounded in USCIS' longstanding purpose and core values in support of a meaningful commitment to making the United States a stronger, more inclusive, and welcoming nation. One of the goals of this plan is to invest in our workforce: attract, recruit, train, and retain a diverse, flexible, and resilient workforce that drives high-quality organizational performance and is representative of who we are as a nation. In April, USCIS released its 2023-2026 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan (PDF, 3.28 MB), marking the agency's first comprehensive strategy to incorporate a culture of DEIA principles as a foundational element of its daily work.

In March, the Department of Homeland Security announced the 2023 Secretary's Awards. A total of 144 USCIS employees received a Secretary's Award in nearly every category: Exceptional Service Gold Medal, Meritorious Service Silver Medal, Leadership Excellence, Innovation, Team Excellence, Champion of Equity, and Volunteer Service. As part of the Public Service Recognition Week celebrations, USCIS held its annual Director's Awards ceremony and will host other activities and events focused on recognizing the important contributions of the USCIS workforce.

Since opening its doors for the first time on March 3, 2003, following the creation of DHS, USCIS has grown from around 9,000 employees to over 20,000 employees, in more than 200 offices around the country and the world—the highest staffing levels in the 20-year history of the agency. USCIS encourages the public to learn more about the agency's mission, its role in the nation's legal immigration process, and how the USCIS workforce changes lives each day.