Before him, Commissioner Alan Nelson was a California lawyer with close ties to President Reagan. These issues are very complicated, very nuanced, and affect families every day. The most recent commissioner, Doris Meissner, had a long career in immigration policy. Despite that, INS was often under siege during her tenure. Long backlogs for naturalization, a scandal surrounding the citizenship of thousands without adequate criminal background checks and a recent audit that said INS couldn't account for hundreds of weapons in its possession plagued the agency.
Nobody really wants to touch immigration.