Who's Who in U.S. Immigration: USCIS, CBP, ICE, State and the Courts
Published
Key takeaways
- There is no single “immigration department.” At least six federal departments touch an immigration case, and each one only answers for its own part.
- USCIS decides applications, CBP controls entry, ICE enforces inside the country, the State Department issues visas abroad, and the immigration courts (part of the Justice Department) decide deportation cases.
- A visa (State Department) and a status (Homeland Security) are different things. Mixing them up is one of the most common mistakes.
- Knowing which agency holds your file tells you where to check its status and who can actually fix a problem.
People talk about “immigration” as if it were one office. It is not. A single green card case can pass through the Department of Labor, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the National Visa Center, a U.S. embassy abroad and Customs and Border Protection at the airport — and if something goes wrong, an immigration court run by the Department of Justice. Each of those agencies has its own rules, its own case numbers and its own website, and none of them can see or fix what the others are doing.
This guide maps who does what, how a case moves between them, and which one to contact for which problem.
The map at a glance
| Agency | Department | What it does | You deal with it when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| USCIS | Homeland Security | Decides applications and petitions | You apply for a green card, work permit, citizenship, asylum (outside court) or a change of status |
| CBP | Homeland Security | Borders, airports and ports of entry | You arrive in the U.S. and are inspected and admitted |
| ICE | Homeland Security | Enforcement, detention and removal inside the U.S.; student-school oversight | You are detained, have check-ins, or are an international student (SEVIS) |
| State Department (Consular Affairs, NVC, embassies) | State | Issues visas abroad; publishes the Visa Bulletin | You interview for a visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate |
| EOIR (immigration courts and the BIA) | Justice | Decides removal (deportation) cases and appeals | You receive a Notice to Appear |
| Office of Foreign Labor Certification | Labor | Certifies that hiring a foreign worker will not hurt U.S. workers | An employer sponsors you (PERM, H-1B, H-2A, H-2B) |
| ORR and CDC | Health and Human Services | Custody of unaccompanied children; medical-exam rules | A child arrives alone, or you need an immigration medical exam |
| Federal courts | Judiciary | Review agency decisions and detention | A case needs a habeas petition, a lawsuit over delay, or a petition for review |
USCIS: the agency that says yes or no to applications
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is the benefits agency of the Department of Homeland Security. If you are filing a form to get something — a green card, a work permit, citizenship, a family petition, a status extension, affirmative asylum — it almost certainly goes to USCIS.
The forms most people meet are the I-130 (family petition), I-140 (employment petition), I-485 (green card inside the U.S.), I-765 (work permit), I-589 (asylum) and N-400 (naturalization). USCIS works through three kinds of offices:
- Service centers and the National Benefits Center decide most cases on paper. You never visit them.
- Field offices hold interviews for green cards and citizenship. South Florida has several, including Miami, Hialeah, Kendall, Oakland Park and West Palm Beach. Your notice tells you which one; you can look them up with the USCIS office locator.
- Asylum offices interview people who apply for asylum while not in court. The Miami Asylum Office covers most of Florida.
Every filing produces a Form I-797 receipt notice with a 13-character receipt number (for example, three letters followed by ten digits). That number is how you track the case on the USCIS case status page — and it only works for USCIS cases, not court or consulate cases.
CBP: the agency at the door
Customs and Border Protection inspects everyone entering the United States, at airports, land crossings and seaports, and runs the Border Patrol between ports. A CBP officer decides whether to admit you, in which status and for how long.
That decision is recorded on your Form I-94, the arrival record. It is electronic for most air arrivals and you can download it from the official I-94 website. The “admit until” date on the I-94 — not the expiry date on your visa — is what controls how long you may stay.
The visa is the key; the I-94 is the time on the meter. A visa issued by the State Department lets you travel to a U.S. port and ask to come in. It does not guarantee admission, and once you are in, it does not decide how long you can stay. Many people have overstayed by assuming a ten-year tourist visa meant ten years of permission. It does not.
ICE: enforcement inside the country
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the interior enforcement agency. Three parts of it matter to most people:
- Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) makes arrests, runs detention and carries out deportations. In Miami-Dade the best-known facility is the Krome North Service Processing Center. ICE keeps an online detainee locator.
- The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) supplies the government’s lawyers in immigration court. If you are in removal proceedings, the attorney across the table works for ICE.
- The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certifies schools and runs SEVIS, the database that tracks F-1, M-1 and J-1 students and their schools.
ICE does not grant green cards or decide asylum. It can, however, start a removal case by filing a Notice to Appear with the immigration court.
The State Department: visas abroad
The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs handles everything that happens outside the United States:
- Embassies and consulates interview applicants and issue or refuse visas. A consular officer’s refusal generally cannot be appealed in U.S. courts, a rule known as consular nonreviewability.
- The National Visa Center (NVC) collects fees and documents after USCIS approves an immigrant petition, then schedules the embassy interview.
- The Visa Bulletin, published monthly, sets when each green card category can move forward. We track it on our Visa Bulletin page.
The State Department also issues U.S. passports and, through a separate bureau, runs the overseas side of the refugee program.
The Justice Department: immigration courts
Immigration courts are not part of the federal judiciary. They belong to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an office of the Department of Justice, and immigration judges are DOJ employees. That structure is why the Attorney General can personally decide or overrule immigration cases.
- Immigration courts decide whether someone is removable and whether they qualify for relief such as asylum, cancellation of removal or adjustment of status. South Florida has the Miami Immigration Court downtown and the Miami Krome Immigration Court for detained cases.
- The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) hears appeals from immigration judges.
Court cases are tracked with your 8- or 9-digit A-number on EOIR’s Automated Case Information portal, not on the USCIS website. Missing a hearing usually means a deportation order in your absence.
The Labor Department: the first step for many work cases
Before many employers can sponsor a foreign worker, the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification has to sign off. It issues prevailing-wage determinations, certifies PERM labor certifications for most EB-2 and EB-3 green cards, approves the Labor Condition Applications that every H-1B needs, and certifies seasonal H-2A and H-2B jobs. Employers file through the FLAG system. Only after DOL approves does the case go to USCIS.
Health and Human Services, and the federal courts
The Office of Refugee Resettlement takes custody of children who arrive without a parent and places them with sponsors. The CDC writes the rules for the immigration medical exam, which is done by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon inside the U.S. or a panel physician abroad.
Federal courts sit above all of this. In Florida, a federal district court can hear a habeas petition challenging detention or a lawsuit over an unreasonably delayed application. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reviews BIA decisions for Florida cases.
How one case moves between agencies
A family green card processed abroad: a U.S. citizen files Form I-130 with USCIS → once approved, the file goes to the National Visa Center → the relative interviews at a U.S. embassy → they fly in and CBP admits them as a permanent resident → USCIS mails the green card.
An employment green card inside the U.S.: the employer gets a prevailing wage and PERM certification from DOL → files Form I-140 with USCIS → when the State Department’s Visa Bulletin shows the priority date is current, the worker files Form I-485 with USCIS.
At every handoff the case number, the website and the people you can contact change. Many “lost” cases are simply sitting at the next agency.
Where things stand (as of 11 October 2026)
The structure above has been stable for two decades. What each agency is doing with it has changed quickly in 2026. The developments most likely to affect a South Florida case right now:
- USCIS fees go up on 16 October 2026. A Federal Register notice published 1 October raises fees set under the 2025 reconciliation law, including for asylum, parole and TPS-related work permits. Filings postmarked on or after 16 October with the old fee will be rejected.
- USCIS is treating green card applications more strictly. A 21 May 2026 policy memorandum (PM-602-0199) tells officers that adjustment of status is discretionary and that the applicant must show it is deserved. A new public charge rule applies to I-485s filed on or after 18 September 2026. Both are being challenged in court.
- The Labor Department suspended eight large employers from PERM on 8 October 2026, using its power under 20 CFR 656.31 to pause cases during fraud investigations. Workers sponsored by those companies should ask their employer’s counsel what it means for their case.
- The State Department opened fiscal year 2027 with the October 2026 Visa Bulletin and has expanded social-media screening to more visa categories.
- ICE’s detainee locator no longer shows many people with final removal orders, according to reporting in September 2026. Families who cannot find a detained relative online should contact a lawyer quickly rather than assume the person has been released.
- The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the government can hold people without bond hearings while their deportation cases proceed (PBS NewsHour).
This box is reviewed and updated regularly. The date above shows when it was last checked.
Which agency do I contact?
- My application, receipt notice, interview or biometrics: USCIS. If a case is badly stuck, the CIS Ombudsman is an independent DHS office that can help.
- My I-94 is wrong, or I had a problem at the airport: CBP.
- A relative was detained, or I have an ICE check-in: ICE — and a lawyer, before the check-in.
- My visa interview, NVC documents or a visa refusal: the State Department.
- My court date or a Notice to Appear: EOIR, the immigration court.
- My employer’s labor certification: the employer’s attorney, who deals with DOL.
Getting help
Knowing which agency has your file is the first step. Knowing what to file, and when, is where a lawyer earns their fee — especially when a case is moving between agencies or has landed in court. Our directory lists green card lawyers, asylum lawyers, family immigration lawyers and business immigration lawyers in Miami, or you can browse all listed immigration attorneys.
Primary sources
- USCIS — About Us
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection — Travel
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- U.S. Department of State — U.S. Visas
- Executive Office for Immigration Review
- U.S. Department of Labor — Office of Foreign Labor Certification
- HHS — Office of Refugee Resettlement
This article is general information, not legal advice. Agency procedures and fees change often. Check the official sources linked above, and speak to a licensed immigration attorney about your own case.