13 Facts About Doris Meissner

Doris Marie Meissner was born on November 3,1941 and is a former Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the agency previously responsible for immigration enforcement in the United States.

Doris Meissner headed the INS from October 18,1993 to November 18,2000, under United States President Bill Clinton and United States Attorney General Janet Reno.

Doris Meissner is currently Senior Fellow and Director of the US Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute and has previously worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Doris Meissner has cited her personal experience as a second-generation immigrant in a family speaking a foreign language as critical to helping her better empathize with the migrant perspective as she took on key roles in managing the United States immigration enforcement apparatus.

In 1973, Doris Meissner joined the US Department of Justice as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the Attorney General.

In 1986, Doris Meissner moved to the private sector as Senior Associate and Director of the Immigration Policy Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC.

In June 1993, Doris Meissner was nominated by then United States President Bill Clinton and worked as INS Commissioner under then United States Attorney General Janet Reno.

Doris Meissner's tenure at the INS was a critical time for the agency.

Doris Meissner oversaw the agency's workforce double to 32,000 employees, and its annual budget triple to $4.3 billion.

Doris Meissner worked on cutting down the wait time for naturalization applications from two years to nine months, and reduced the backlog from 2 million to 800,000.

The INS, and Doris Meissner personally, came under criticism for not doing enough to control the borders, at a time when cross-border movement was higher than in any previous period.

Doris Meissner currently holds the title of Senior Fellow and Director of the US Immigration Policy Program.

Doris Meissner is currently serving or has previously served on a number of distinguished boards and panels.