Joseph Edlow
{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1981)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Joseph Edlow
| image = Joseph Edlow.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 2019
| office = Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
| status = Nominee
| termstart = TBD
| office1 = Acting Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
| termstart1 = 2020
| termend1 = 2021
| president1 = Donald Trump
| education = {{unbulleted list
| Case Western Reserve University (JD)
}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|May 31, 1981}}
| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
| nominator = Donald Trump
}}
Joseph Benjamin Edlow (born May 31, 1981) is an American lawyer. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2025 to serve as director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).{{Cite news |last=Kreighbaum |first=Andrew |date=June 12, 2025 |title=Trump Immigration Agency Nominee Edlow Advances to Full Senate |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/trump-immigration-agency-nominee-edlow-advances-to-full-senate |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Bloomberg Law}}
Early life and education
Edlow was born on May 31, 1981, in Baltimore, Maryland,{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees: Joseph Edlow |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/sjq_edlow_1nznhhc6aujk2.pdf |url-status= |access-date=17 June 2025 |publisher=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary}} to a Jewish family.{{Cite web |last=Finkelman |first=Louis |date=2020-06-26 |title=Jewish Legal Experts Weigh In On DACA Decision |url=https://www.thejewishnews.com/opinion/jewish-legal-experts-weigh-in-on-daca-decision/article_ced849ca-e4db-57c4-b42d-c8fc909a0056.html |access-date=2025-06-18 |website=The Jewish News |language=en}} He graduated from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, government, and history in 2003, then earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2006.{{Cite web |title=Joseph Edlow - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (March 2025-), Director Nominee - Biography {{!}} LegiStorm |url=https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/243426/Joseph_Benjamin_Edlow.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=www.legistorm.com |language=en}}
Career
After graduating from law school, Edlow became the political director for Scott Rolle's unsuccessful campaign to be the attorney general of Maryland. From 2006 to 2007, he worked as an associate attorney in private practice, then was an assistant chief counsel for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from 2008 to 2015.
From 2015 to 2017, Edlow was legal counsel to the United States House of Representatives and then counsel to the United States House Committee on the Judiciary from 2017 to 2018. From 2018 to 2019, he was deputy assistant attorney general at the Office of Legal Policy of the U.S. Department of Justice.{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=House Biography: Joseph Edlow, Deputy Assistant Attorney General |url=https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20190725/109852/HHRG-116-JU00-Bio-EdlowJ-20190725.pdf |access-date=June 17, 2025 |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice}}
Edlow was chief counsel of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from 2019 to 2020 and deputy director for policy at USCIS from 2020 to 2021, during which period he also served as acting director of the agency.{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Stuart |title=Snubbing Trump, Immigration Nominee Would End Student Practical Training |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/05/22/snubbing-trump-immigration-nominee-will-end-student-practical-training/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=Forbes |language=en}} Beginning in 2022, he was also a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center.{{Cite web |last=Newswire |first=Federal |title=Heritage supports Trump's nominee for USCIS director |url=https://thefederalnewswire.com/stories/670472144-heritage-supports-trump-s-nominee-for-uscis-director |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=Federal Newswire |language=en}}
= Nomination to be USCIS director =
On March 10, 2025, President Donald Trump nominated Edlow to be Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.{{Cite web |date=2025-06-12 |title=PN26-15 - Nomination of Joseph Edlow for Department of Homeland Security, 119th Congress (2025-2026) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/119th-congress/26/15 |access-date=2025-06-18 |website=www.congress.gov}} His nomination hearing took place on May 21, 2025, with Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, presiding.{{Cite web |title=Nominations {{!}} United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/05/21/2025/nominations |access-date=2025-06-18 |website=www.judiciary.senate.gov |language=en}} On June 12, 2025, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Edlow's nomination to the U.S. Senate with a party-line vote.