Federal immigration agency taps new Atlanta field office director

The federal government has tapped Brett Rinehart to lead U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Atlanta field office, which oversees legal immigration in the region.

USCIS is holding an open house on Oct. 22 to introduce Rinehart to the public. The event will include a citizenship ceremony for about 75 immigrants.

A U.S. Army veteran, Rinehart worked as an inspector at the ports in Miami and Tampa for the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. He has also served as a district adjudication officer and later as an immigration services officer for USCIS. He recently served as special assistant to the deputy associate director for the agency’s field operations in Washington.

Rinehart has replaced interim Atlanta field director Joseph Kernan, USCIS’ deputy district director for the southeast region.

Rinehart said he will focus on boosting customer service while emphasizing that U.S. citizenship is a “celebration, not a legal action.”

“It’s the best thing we do as an agency — to be a part of people’s realization of the American dream,” he said in a prepared statement.

During the first six months of this year, USCIS naturalized 5,543 new citizens in Georgia.

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