The Heritage Foundation has expressed support for President Donald Trump's nomination of Joseph Edlow as the next Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Joseph Edlow joined the Heritage Foundation in 2022 as a visiting fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center. His prior experience includes serving as acting director of USCIS during Trump's first administration, following his role as chief counsel at USCIS. Before that, he worked with the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy and served as counsel to a member of Congress, focusing primarily on immigration policy. Edlow began his federal service career as an assistant chief counsel with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore.
Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Border Security and Immigration Center, commented on Edlow's nomination: "America should have great confidence in Joe Edlow becoming the director of USCIS. He was the acting USCIS director previously, is an experienced immigration attorney – both on the benefits side and as a former ICE attorney, and he is a veteran of the U.S. Congress."
Ries added, "We look forward to seeing Joe do great things at USCIS to restore our immigration system to a lawful, orderly, and manageable one."