#WhatGovDoes: One Data Point

Image by mar lidia from Pixabay

Someone on social media made the point that amid all the news headlines in the United States about the federal workforce, there's a lot of confusion about what the U.S. government actually does. I think it's even less obvious to most people in the realm of international affairs, because few Americans know what Foreign Service members do or how we advance the interests of the American people. Foreign Service Spouse Crystalline Randazzo started the hashtag #WhatGovDoes to share more about what we do, so I'm adding to the conversation with the list of some of the things I've done, in no particular order:

• When notified of a U.S. citizen's unexpected death in international waters in the middle of the night during the pandemic, I called that citizen's spouse back home and informed them. I helped negotiate the transfer of the deceased person's remains and belongings back to the family, despite concerns from the local government that the remains posed a COVID-19 risk. I ensured that family did not bear the costs of returning the remains and received all the rights due to them under international maritime law.
• I have assisted surviving family members with recording U.S. citizens' deaths abroad and providing the necessary paperwrok for them to transport the remains back to the United States for burial, if needed.
• I have issued many, many passports for U.S. citizens including emergency passports.
• I have issued many, many Consular Reports of Birth Abroad documenting the birth of U.S. citizens overseas.
• I have issued many, many visas for students, businesspeople, investors, tourists, and other non-immigrant visitors who poured millions and millions of dollars into the U.S. economy.
• I have denied many, many visas for travelers who posed a threat to U.S. national security or interests or otherwise did not qualify for a U.S. visa.
• I have comforted U.S. citizen victims of violent crime including sexual assault and helped them navigate the complexities of a foreign justice system with compassion. I ensured that failures to address violent crimes against U.S. citizens factor into the U.S. Department of State's public annual Human Rights Report and enhanced international cooperation between the United States and our partners on transnational sexual cybercrimes like fake pornography.
• I have helped U.S. citizens in critical medical condition return home with a medical evacuation.
• I have helped U.S. citizens without money, living on the streets of a foreign country, get an emergency loan to return safely home.
• I have visited U.S. citizens in prison overseas and ensured they did not face discrimination or mistreatment due to being American.
• I have helped U.S. citizens in prison overseas apply for the international prisoner transfer program, which allows U.S. prisoners to transfer to a prison back home and serve their sentence closer to their loved ones.
• I have taken custody of a wealthy American's belongings when he died alone overseas with no next of kin on record including no parents, no children, no spouse, and no siblings. With my colleagues, we found nine cousins in the United States and ensured they received their rightful inheritance instead of it being lost in a foreign country.
• I assisted American parents whose children were abducted and taken to another country by the other parent with the legal and law enforcement processes necessary to return their children home under international law.
• I helped negotiate a change to the implementation of a local law that drastically reduced barriers to American business.
• I supported official visits culminating in a joint financing deal unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in co-investment for U.S. businesses overseas.
• I have promoted U.S. leadership and influence in critical sectors including AI and other emerging technology, including warning our partners about the national security consequences of using untrusted technology from our adversaries.
• I have informed Americans overseas how to vote from abroad and helped get their ballots back in time for the vote to count.
• I have served as a spokesperson explaining the United States and what we stand for to everyone from school groups to journalists to the general public to other countries' diplomats.
• I have served as a duty officer, who takes U.S. citizen emergency calls at any time after hours on nights or weekends. (I'm even the duty officer as I write this blog post, and in one day this week I helped a U.S. citizen couple who lost their passports in transit, a U.S. citizen who was arrested, and a U.S. citizen who was scared for their family member trapped in Syria and at risk of violence.)
• I helped a 3-year-old child and his parents secure emergency travel documents to fly to the United States for an approved heart transplant, without which his doctors confirmed he would have died within 48 hours.
• I have helped people understand Americans better and helped Americans understand others better through exchange programs and cultural diplomacy. This brings more people to the United States and supports our economy, debunks negative stereotypes holding us back from our full potential cooperation in shared interests with our partners, and helps Americans receive a warmer welcome when they travel abroad.

My experience is just one data point, but I hope it helps illuminate the work we do a bit better. If you're a federal government employee or have benefitted from the work of a federal government employee, please feel free to share #WhatGovDoes in the comments below!