United States: Joseph Edlow Confirmed as USCIS Director

The U.S. Senate yesterday confirmed the nomination of Joseph Edlow for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS Director) with a 52-47 vote. Edlow previously served as Acting Director at USCIS under the first Trump administration, and was a contributor to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s presidential transition plan. Edlow has voiced his support for a number of immigration restrictions, including prohibiting F-1 students from engaging in optional practical training (OPT) employment following the end of their academic program and transitioning USCIS’s mission to enforcement, vetting, screening, and fraud detection, including a significantly enhanced role in USCIS case processing for the agency’s Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) directorate.

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