Kate Busenkell is an experienced attorney with nearly two decades of service in immigration, humanitarian protection, and federal litigation. She began her legal career in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), serving first as a law clerk from 2006 to 2008 and then as an immigration prosecutor from 2008 to 2010.

In 2010, she joined the USCIS Office of Chief Counsel as Associate Counsel for the Western Law Division, stationed in Honolulu. In this role, she served as in-house counsel to the Honolulu Field Office, providing legal guidance on family-based petitions, naturalization, fraud investigations, adjustment of status, and the implementation of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act (CNRA), which extended federal immigration law to the CNMI. She also participated in the human trafficking joint task force and participated in Pacific Command (formerly PACOM) engagements.

Kate joined the USCIS Refugee and Asylum Law Division in 2013, serving both as headquarters counsel and in-house counsel to the Arlington Asylum Office. Her portfolios included terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG), social media policy, NACARA, and child soldier issues. She played a key role in developing the government’s defense strategy for early waves of asylum adjudication delay litigation (mandamus) and handled the credible-fear and habeas caseload that culminated in the Supreme Court’s decision in Thuraissigiam.

In 2021, she joined the USCIS Strategic Litigation Division and acted as lead counsel for programmatic and class-action challenges. Her work included high-profile litigation involving Temporary Protected Status (TPS), parole programs, employment-based mandamus, birthright citizenship, and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)-related claims.

Throughout her USCIS tenure, Kate completed several extended details across the Department of Homeland Security, including the Office of Health Affairs; managing e-discovery for a major national security vetting case; and handling EB-5 litigation.

Her career reflects a deep commitment to public service, interagency collaboration, and the effective administration of complex immigration law and policy.