Departments of the U.S. Government and What Their Roles Are In Immigration Procedures- Elementary School

There are three main departments that take care of immigration. Immigration is how people from another country get permission to visit, work, or live here in the United States!

The first one is the Department of Homeland Security, or for short, the DHS!

The DHS includes 3 smaller teams that you may hear people talking about.

1. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

   • This team takes care of making sure people living in the U.S. don’t break the rules, especially immigration laws.

2. CBP (Customs and Border Protection)

   • You might see this team at the airport, or at docks and land borders. Their job is to check passports and make sure that the people and goods that enter the U.S. are safe.

3. USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services)

   • This team does their work in the office. They review immigration applications and check the people who want to become official citizens of the U.S. or receive a “Green Card.”

The second department is the Department of State, the DOS!

The DOS acts as the United States to the rest of the world. 

• They set up U.S. Embassies and Consulates in other countries. If a person from another country wants to come and study in an American college or wants to visit Disneyland, they go to a U.S. Embassy in their own country. The DOS will then talk to the person and if that goes well, the person gets a visa, which allows them to come to the U.S.. 

The third department is the Department of Justice, called the DOJ! 

When there are fights about immigration rules, the DOJ takes care of them.

• The DOJ sets up special Immigration Courts and an immigration judge will solve the problem based on the law.