The White House announced the nomination in a statement Saturday.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services processes immigration and naturalization applications. The agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security, where Cissna currently works as director of immigration policy in the Office of Policy.
Trump has taken a firm stance on immigration since his inauguration, passing executive orders with the intention of tightening border security and restricting the arrival of travelers from certain countries and refugees.
Cissna previously served at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, in the Office of the Chief Counsel. He also is a former US foreign service officer, who was stationed in Haiti and Sweden.