Adios to Immigration boss?

The director of the Homeland Security Department's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency could be the United States' next ambassador to Spain.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held confirmation hearings today for Eduardo Aguirre Jr. to hold the post. President Bush nominated Aguirre for the position last month.

The White House and DHS have not yet announced who might replace Aguirre as USCIS chief. But Aguirre's nomination marks the departure of yet another high-ranking DHS official within the past 12 months. Most recently, Steve Cooper left as the department’s CIO April 30 and has not yet been replaced.

Aguirre would also serve as ambassador to Andorra, a small country in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France.

Aguirre has served as the first head of USCIS, which oversees benefits for immigrants, since August 2003. Before joining DHS, he was vice chairman and chief operating officer of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Before that, he worked for 24 years at Bank of America, eventually as its president for international private banking.