About This Training
Immigration caseworkers spend their days solving individual problems within a complex USCIS bureaucracy — rarely getting the chance to step back and ask: how would I fix this agency?
For once, the experts are coming to you! POPVOX Foundation is pleased to welcome former USCIS Director Ur Jaddou and former USCIS Senior Counselor and Deputy Chief of Staff Emilie Hyams, who are leading the USCIS State Capacity project at the Niskanen Center designing pragmatic, cross-partisan reforms for the fair, efficient, and timely administration of USCIS.
They're here to listen: specifically, to hear from immigration caseworkers about what's broken and how to fix it. Come ready with your experiences, diagnoses, and ideas for fixing the issues you see every day: administrative backlogs, outdated adjudication systems, visa delays, unpredictable timelines, and work authorization gaps — preventable problems with real costs for American industries, families, and those eligible for humanitarian protection.
Please note: this is not a traditional webinar, but a Chatham House Rules discussion and listening session.
This virtual event will take place on Tuesday, May 12, at 1 PM ET. Registration is free.
Moderator
Anne Meeker is Managing Director of POPVOX Foundation, and a former House casework director. She was a founding member of the POPVOX Foundation team as Director of Special Initiatives, and leads the Foundation’s work on constituent-legislator engagement, including the Casework Navigator program and the Voice/Mail newsletter. She previously served as a Fellow with OSU’s Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability, and as Director of Constituent Services for Congressman Seth Moulton. Anne holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Oxford (St. Hugh’s College), and an MSc in History from the London School of Economics. She is also a proud Clevelander, and will take any opportunity to talk up the Rust Belt
Experts
Ur Mendoza Jaddou is a Senior Fellow at Niskanen, focusing on federal state capacity with a focus on immigration processes as part of the Niskanen Center State Capacity USCIS Project she co-founded. She is an attorney, public servant, and expert in immigration law and policy with more than two decades of experience in government, nonprofit, and academic settings. She recently served as the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from 2021 to 2025, where she led an agency of more than 20,000 employees, oversaw the nation’s legal immigration system, and implemented reforms to improve efficiency, access, and fairness. Earlier in her career, Ur was Chief Counsel for USCIS, providing legal guidance on complex immigration and administrative law issues. She also served as Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she advised Members of Congress on legislative and oversight matters. Beyond government service, Ur has led nonprofit initiatives focused on immigration policy and has been a frequent commentator and writer on immigration law and administrative governance. She has also taught immigration law as an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, mentoring the next generation of attorneys in this evolving field. Ur is currently the founder and principal of Jaddou Strategies, LLC. Ur earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law and her B.A. and M.A. in Philosophy from Stanford University.
Emilie Hyams is a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center and co-founder of the Niskanen Center State Capacity USCIS Project, examining state capacity and federal service delivery, with a focus on immigration processes. Hyams is the founder and principal of Immigration Strategies, LLC, a consultancy that assists U.S. employers and nonprofit organizations on immigration matters. She previously served in the front office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); as counsel to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee; and as counselor and director of immigrant and foreign affairs to U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. She also worked as an associate at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm. Hyams earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish literature from Washington University in St. Louis, and a law degree from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.
About Casework Navigator
Casework is a mission-critical component of Congressional service, building constituent trust and strengthening Congress’s Article One responsibility to provide oversight on Executive Branch agencies. The Casework Navigator program develops resources to support Congressional caseworkers, and explores the changing role of casework in legislative function. Through the Navigator program, Congressional staff can access regular webinars, workshops, resources, and research on the state of casework today, and the future of constituent service in a landscape of rapidly-evolving technology and expectations of government.
About POPVOX Foundation
POPVOX Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization with a mission to help democratic institutions keep pace with a rapidly changing world. Through publications, events, prototypes, and technical assistance, the organization helps public servants and elected officials better serve their constituents and make better policy.
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