In doing so, DHS can uniquely enlist the private sector and the American people in protecting the nation. Even more so, the Border Patrol has a significant deficit of trust to make up in border communities, which in turn has led to morale issues within the rank and file and resistance to policy changes.72. While DHS can contribute to efforts to thwart organized crime and bring criminal actors to justice, the DOJ should continue to serve as the lead federal agency for TOC. Another challenge that has affected DHS from the outsetand grew increasingly problematic during the Trump administrationis that it was given broad and at times unclear legal authorities that it has used in ways that have harmed the public it is supposed to serve. DHS also wastes energy vying over bureaucratic turf when it could be solving problems. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Congress has repeatedly attempted to guide DHS and shape the prioritization of its missions but has achieved little success. DHS should maintain its core objective of securely, efficiently, humanely managing our air, land, and maritime borders. As then-nominee Alejandro Mayorkas argued in his confirmation hearing, DHS is and should be fundamentally, a department of partnerships.5 He is right. Sarnata Reynolds, Caroline Medina, Molly Weston Williamson, Rachael Eisenberg, Brandon Tucker, Hadi Sedigh. CAP recommends that DHS components that are primarily or exclusively focused on enforcing federal laws should be transferred to other federal departments. } Sign Up Collections Internal Directives Strategy and Doctrinal Products Keywords Policy Topics Homeland Security Enterprise Last Updated: 01/10/2023 Was this page helpful? And new findings reveal other factors hindering DHSs performance which have dramatically worsened over the past few years, pointing to additional challenges for DHS that should be addressed. Recognizing that screening remains a key safety component, a better-managed system would increase the capacity of DHS to process and screen applicants for family, employment, and visitor visas; to reduce processing time and delays; and to provide more reliable and dignified services. DHS I&A has long focused diffusely, to the detriment of focusing more precisely where it can make unique contributions. Established in 2003, the Department of Homeland Security was largely defined by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the response to those tragic events continues to shape the priorities and mission of the department today. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is the civilian national intelligence component of the United States Department of Homeland Security and one of two statutory members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) within DHS, the other being Coast Guard Intelligence.It is the only member of the IC tasked with providing intelligence to State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT . DHS is best suited to collect information that other agencies cannot, primarily at ports of entry, and use that information for intelligence purposes. DHS should prioritize efforts where it can add value, paying special attention to those needs that, in todays federal government, DHS is best positioned to meet. Contract Administration - Brian Bond, Director. `~d2*i)-zX It outlines the flow of information and the hierarchy of decision-making across roles and teams. These dangers will require DHS to step up its efforts in areas that have not been its primary focus, prioritizing its missions differently than it has over the past two decades. =#|pl&m">+s\e4*O^N\.2%u%jkhJ{KZ":9-b@>o@XT!Ke?. The House approved the original bill on July 26, but the Senate was slower to consider the legislation due to partisan jurisdiction claims, parliamentary factors, and the deliberation of a few highly contentious issues.12 It was not until after the November 2002 elections that Congress reconvened and passed a compromise bill. or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Next, the report reimagines what it means to keep America secure in todays world and provides a new framework for rebalancing the departments focus toward new and emerging needs. CAP believes that DHS should take a broader view of what it means to keep the nation secure. The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { 696 0 obj <> endobj USCG United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is responsible for delivering immigration services and benefits. To maximize its value and effectiveness in todays environment, DHS should organizeand articulate its missionaround a balanced set of activities that prioritize safety and services roles more fully with DHSs other protecting, securing, and defending roles DHS should dial up, or increase, its strategic focus in the following areas: DHS should dial down its strategic focus in the following areas, bringing them into balance with its other priorities: To make the case for reform, this report first outlines the legacy of DHSs hasty founding and how past attempts to reform DHS have failed to reorient the department away from a disproportionate focus on foreign threats. Cybersecurity now demands a whole-of-government solution to protect national security, critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and sensitive personal information. hVN0/K DHS has an uneven role in communicating threat information to the public. DHS has a key role in CBPs primary function, facilitating safely the transfer of goods and people, with its related enforcement component supporting that function. Refocusing DHSs immigration activities on the provision of services to facilitate admission, with enforcement that supports that objective, will pay dividends for America by promoting family unity rather than family separation; ensuring American employers can more easily access a global workforce; enhancing the United States influence by streamlining access to the country for tourists and visitors from around the world; and restoring our identity as a generous nation that keeps the door open to those fleeing harm in their home countries. Critical Infrastructure Sectors. (see p. 23). An official website of the United States government. Welcome Patrol: how some border agents are struggling with Bidens policy shift, Reuters, May 14, 2021, available at, Most policymakers would likely be surprised to find out that the Border Patrol considers itself primarily in the business of preventing the entry of terrorist and terrorist weapons from entering the United States between official ports of entry, whereas the Office of Field Operations, in its own estimation, has a more balanced mission, responsible for border securityincluding anti-terrorism, immigration, anti-smuggling, trade compliance, and agriculture protectionwhile simultaneously facilitating the lawful trade and travel at U.S. ports of entry that is critical to our Nations economy. See U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Executive Assistant Commissioners Offices, available at, Ron Nixon, Department Commandant Lays Out Coast Guards Successes and Challenges,, For example, the ACLU has documented CBPs interpretation of its authority to operate within 100 miles of any external boundary as key to documented abuses: In practice, Border Patrol agents routinely ignore or misunderstand the limits of their legal authority in the course of individual stops, resulting in violations of the constitutional rights of innocent people. See ACLU, The Constitution in the 100-Mile Border Zone, available at, Andrew Crespo, Unpacking DHSs Troubling Explanation of the Portland Van Video, Lawfare, July 25, 2020, available at, Office of Inspector General, DHS Lacks Oversight of Component Use of Force (Redacted) (Washington: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2017), available at, Congressional Research Service, National Special Security Events: Fact Sheet (Washington: 2021), available at, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICEs Mission, available at, See, for example, Peter L. Markowitz, A New Paradigm for Humane and Effective Immigration Enforcement (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2020), available at, Matt Zapotosky and Chico Harlan, Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons,. The list of all Operational and Support Components that make up the Department along with our organization chart and the list of senior leadership. DHS, primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, is already the nations helper. DHSs complicated web of roles and responsibilities also means that it plays a supporting role nearly everywhere but rarely leads. The muddled intelligence mission and an expansive set of authorities present a worrying combination that has led to abusive activities and human rights violations. } The Coast Guard provides perhaps the best example, balancing its search and rescue missions with its clear and tailored drug and migrant interdiction roles. For large organizations like the DHS, managing IT and finding ways for disparate systems to work together can be a complicated task; doing so while supporting government operations means that the stakes can be even higher and the consequences more widespread. Organizational Chart See how the Department of Homeland Security and all of its component agencies are organized by exploring the Organizational Chart. Abolishing DHS and returning its components to where they came from is neither politically feasible nor wise, and giving DHS more resources and responsibility without substantive changes will do little to fix the departments underlying problems. The combination of DHSs hasty founding, its expansive authorities, and its at once decentralized nature and yet lack of institutional independence from the executive branch has left the department susceptible to presidents using DHS and its expansive authorities for political purposes. DHS policy has expanded the categories of records collected to include social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results.22 DHS has also launched a new system, the Customs and Border Protection Intelligence Records System (CIRS), to aggregate immigration, law enforcement, national security, and publicly available dataincluding social mediain a central database.23. Working to recruit and train CBP agents with the tools to excel at working with populations seeking protection will help create the foundations for a shift in cultural norms. These have included allegations of using department resources to target, discriminate against, and detain and deport immigrants of color.30 Despite the documented patterns of abuse, this has yet to be remedied by Congress.31 Other DHS components, such as HSI, have authorities that overlap with other federal investigative agenciesauthorities the department interprets very broadly. It is the way in which a company or organization is organized, including the types of relationships that exist between the directors . Leadership Director Congressional Relations Diversity and Civil Rights Firearms and Tactical Programs Immigration Program Evaluation Partnership and Engagement Regulatory Affairs and Policy Public Affairs Deputy Director Chief of Staff Directorates In the absence of a clear and well-defined mission, DHS has too often tried to make itself a utility player on every issue, arguing that it has authorities and capabilities that others lack. It might mean working with public and private sector stakeholders to deliver better information about risks to critical infrastructure. endstream endobj startxref What Is an Organizational Structure? DHSs Trusted Traveler programs are good examples of what DHS can do when it focuses on providing services and delivering real value to Americans and those traveling to the United States. !6nuM)CtW$okCLzOiR$F&Ar,>7Om0h@8n8jV(OG)n*YGdDvKL~&7;9 {;1g\w0cwo#4)LaN|q.:-X2 `-5 cL`&@[;`A*|^4vc9ZZA\(cGPZ|xFar+f3lrt-c7&:~3-Ua`QKW. To better serve Americans safety and security needs, DHS leadership should articulate a new framework of department activities that increases the emphasis on connecting, communicating, facilitating, welcoming, and helping through a safety and services model and recalibrate its emphasis on protecting, securing, preventing, and enforcing. Elisa Massimino is a senior fellow with the National Security and International Policy team at at the Center. 0 This initiative would be part of efforts to develop a pipeline of leaders, encourage creativity and innovation, and drive a cultural shift within the department toward its new service-oriented framework. While the department still has an important role to play in preventing attacks against the United States from abroad, it is time to refine the departments mission and priorities to ensure that they fit current needs. 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