The
United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was a part of the
United States Department of Justice and handled legal and illegal immigration
and naturalization. It ceased to exist as a whole entity on March 1, 2003. Most of its functions were transferred to three new agencies within the
newly-created Department of Homeland Security in March 2003. The administration
of immigration services, including permanent residence, naturalization, asylum,
and other functions became the responsibility of the Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services (BCIS), which existed only for a short time before changing
to its current name, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The
investigative and enforcement functions (including investigations, deportation,
and intelligence) were combined with U.S. Customs investigators, the Federal
Protective Service, and the Federal Air Marshal Service, to create U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The border functions of the INS,
which included the Border Patrol along with INS Inspectors, were combined with
U.S. Customs Inspectors into the newly created U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP).
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