Attorney General Ashcroft Resigns!
Posted Nov 12, 2004
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Attorney General John Ashcroft and Department of Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans resigned on November 9, 2004. It is likely that both will remain in their positions until the President selects and the Senate confirms new appointees for these positions. President Bush has indicated that White House counsel Alberto Gonzales is his choice to replace Attorney General Ashcroft. As many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers may be aware, Attorney General Ashcroft has been a polarizing factor for President Bush. He has been severely criticized by many for seeking to curtail U.S. civil liberties in a post-9/11 world.
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The Attorney General is the head of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ was in charge of Legacy INS until it was replaced in March 2003 by the USCIS and other agencies that now come under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security. The Board of Immigration Appeals and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) are still within the domain of the DOJ. These offices, which hear various immigration appeals, may be affected by the change in DOJ leadership.
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The Department of Commerce (DOC) is reportedly one of the agencies that provides Security Advisory Opinions (SAOs) to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) when the DOS determines that an SAO is necessary for granting a visa to a foreign national. The DOC also issues deemed export licenses for nonimmigrants who are working with certain technologies and enforces the laws regarding deemed export licenses. In recent years, the DOC has engaged in an education campaign regarding deemed export licenses. Some companies have been prosecuted for failing to obtain deemed export licenses for their H1B or other nonimmigrant employees since any sensitive work done by a foreign national, even within the U.S., could require an export license from the DOC.
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Until it is clear who will be replacing these Presidential Cabinet members, it is difficult to predict how the changes will affect existing policies towards foreign nationals seeking to come to the U.S. or wishing to remain here. Generally, changes in top leadership at federal government agencies connected with immigration implementation should not really matter since the laws themselves would not change. To the extent that any leader would help to guide the federal agency and mold it, however, changes at the top could result in different interpretations of immigration laws and, in that way, help or harm immigration to the United States.