Humanitarian programs. Administering programs to protect people needing shelter or aid, which includes granting:
refugee status and asylum;
status to battered spouses, children, and parents;
status for human trafficking or other crime victims;
parole of otherwise inadmissible people;
temporary protected status; and
assistance to those affected by natural disasters or other extreme circumstances.
Foreign adoptions. Processing the initial step of foreign adoptions.
Civic integration. Promoting instruction and training on the responsibilities of citizenship.
Genealogy. Providing family historians and researchers with access to historical information and naturalization records of deceased immigrants.
USCIS was established in 2003 by segregating the benefits-granting portion of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). It is a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.