President Designates New INS Commissioner
Posted Dec 13, 2002

On November 25, 2002, President George W. Bush announced his intention to designate Michael J. Garcia to act as Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This designation was effective on December 1, 2002. Mr. Garcia replaces outgoing INS Commissioner James Ziglar, who resigned in August 2002 but offered to remain in his position for a few months following his resignation. The resignation was reported in our August 23, 2002 MurthyBulletin article entitled, INS Commissioner Resigns, available on MurthyDotCom.

Prior to his appointment to the position of Acting INS Commissioner, Mr. Garcia was with the U.S. Department of Commerce as Assistant Secretary for Commerce for Export Enforcement. Before that appointment he was Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

This will be a challenging and transitional time for the INS. As regular MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom readers are aware, legislation that was recently passed will abolish the INS and establish the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Previous INS functions will be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. It is unclear at this time whether Mr. Garcia will play a role in the new Department once the INS has been abolished, though his career in law enforcement is in keeping with the current administration's view of the primary role of the new Department. More information regarding this transition is in our December 06, 2002 article, President Releases Reorganization Plan, also available on our WebSite.