Plan to shut 21 international offices of USCIS and transfer duties to domestic offices and State Department’s embassies and consulates

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5.20pm GMT

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service announced that it will close all 21 of its immigration offices abroad. It will shift the duties performed at those offices which include processing applications from potential immigrants to domestic employees and to the State Department.

The Washington Post reports:

The Trump administration is preparing to shutter all 21 international offices of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a move that could slow the processing of family visa applications, foreign adoptions and citizenship petitions from members of the military.

USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna said in an email to staff Tuesday that he is working to transfer those duties — now performed by employees worldwide — to domestic offices and the State Department’s embassies and consulates. He wrote that if the State Department agrees, the agency would move to close its international field offices in coming months “in an effort to maximize our agency’s finite resources.”

5.07pm GMT

In an interview with Breitbart, Donald Trump hinted at new regulation of big tech companies like Google and Facebook.

“I understand a lot of people wanting to look into it. I mean normally I’d like to say let it be free, let it all be free, but it’s not free. It’s really run by a small number of people,” said Trump.