It is critical to consider the following questions: What should be the primary focus of the department? DHS intelligence activities, at one time derided as being uncoordinated and duplicative of work being done elsewhere, have more recently raised concerns that DHS was acting beyond its already broad authorities. The original legislation that created DHS tasked the new agency with seven primary missions, almost all of which relate to counterterrorism: The original administration proposal in June 2002 to create DHS proposed a clear and efficient organizational structure with four divisions: border and transportation security; emergency and preparedness response; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear countermeasures; and information analysis and infrastructure protection.16 By the time it came into existence, however, the original agencies and different components of the federal government brought together under the DHS umbrella represented a much broader range of activities.17. CBP would still retain its law enforcement functions, but it would operate with a better understanding of the broader agendaas well as the border communitiesit serves. The TSAs Federal Air Marshal Service provides additional passenger safety on commercial passenger flights. DHS, primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, is already the nations helper. DHS has the potential to meet todays moment. Skip to main content. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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. 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. With appropriate oversight and respect for civil liberties, the department has tremendous potential to advance public safety and provide critical services. 'A969'NrzNETKhTa>$d.S-p=Ri 8X.rb:N}xxKp oXugE25JjF1%H@3-h6L"NZ AP],z?\O8(Y(&yTQRfT1rE;A}2A^`u=1y C@ (:9JY`tf5/\b}A:UC#2["Zs(1g$xzc_{0SywMX! ^kkc`}mX_G+BL 70d:8Lx&}O{ oB7u~Sv A change in policies alone will not achieve the goal of building a fair, humane, and workable immigration system. Rudy deLeon is a senior fellow with the National Security and International Policy team at the Center. Despite consensus among policymakers that the department could be far more effective,7 there is little agreement on how to fix it. But the benefits of removing these problematic entities would be well worth the cost in bureaucratic coordination and would help move toward significant reforms in the immigration system that are long overdue. 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 then provides an analysis of DHSs challenges, highlighting long-standing foundational problems, including where the department is absent or not contributing. Beyond the information the department collects and retains, DHS also has an important role to play in safeguarding the security of personal or private information from malicious cyberactors and foreign governments. It should invest its unique capacity to analyze and contextualize threats to land, sea, and air borders and ports of entry and to deliver intelligence to state, local, tribal, and territorial partners. Instead, DHS should strategically recalibrate its priorities around a safety and services model rather than a threat-oriented modelwhich, in its current incarnation, is primarily concerned with counterterrorism and immigration enforcement, with communities of color, immigrants, and refugees treated as threats. While the Coast Guard plays an important role in maritime security and maritime law enforcement efforts, it is also responsible forand takes great pride insearch and rescue and disaster relief efforts. DHSs role in countering terrorism and domestic extremism has never been clear or without controversy. Looking for U.S. government information and services? 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 . Moving forward, DHS has an opportunity to focus on the most pressing threats, including domestic and borderless threats in addition to ongoing global threats, and to hone the departments capacity to serve as the emergency response quarterback for a broader set of national emergencies. DHS should narrow the scope of its prevention activities to focus its efforts where DHS has sole or unique responsibilities such as in lawful screening and vetting of travelers and goods that cross U.S. borders, countering disinformation, and funding research into evidence-based approaches to preventing extremism. The current administration should evaluate how much of this realignment can be done within existing statutory functions and what requires congressional assistance and legislation. Johan Hassel, Kate Donald, Laura Kilbury, 1 More A full list of supporters is available, Taking Migration Seriously: Real Solutions to Complex Challenges at the Border, 3 Things to Know Now that President Biden Has Canceled At Least $10,000 in Student Debt, Rising Anti-China Sentiment in South Korea Offers Opportunities To Strengthen US-ROK Relations, Why the United States Must Stay the Course on Ukraine, Paid Leave Policies Must Include Chosen Family, The Killing of Tyre Nichols Must Serve as a Catalyst to Root Out Racial Injustice in Policing, 5 Ways Governors and Mayors Can Leverage Federal Investments. False and damaging disinformation about the security of the 2020 general election caused millions of Americans to question the election results and led to a violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Based on this study, CAP makes the following recommendations and guidelines for the administration and Congress to transform DHS into the safety and services department CAP proposes. Operational and Support Components Leadership 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. Without such a mechanism, America lacks critical information on threats that could be mitigated, and the government is unable to enlist the capacity of American businesses and the American people in its threat response. The organizational chart for DHS suggests that the secretary and deputy secretary are responsible for overseeing 23 separate bureaus and agencies ranging in size from the Office of Public Affairs to the entire U.S. Coast Guard to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has 65,000 employees.41 Yet the resources for the secretary of DHS pale in comparison to those of other federal agencies: The State Departments Office of the Secretary had some $57 million for FY 2019 and 75 employees to oversee a bureaucracy of 70,000 personnel while DHSs had just $19 million for FY 2018 and 68 employees for a bureaucracy of 240,000.42 Studies by the Atlantic Council and the CNAS recently proposed the creation of an associate secretary position to improve coordination and management at the highest levels of the department.43 While more bureaucracy is not always the answer, the current secretarys office does not have the personnel, resources, or authority to effectively lead a department of DHSs size today. At a minimum, this would mean elevating the CRCL officereven while remaining operationally independent to oversee complaints related to civil rights and civil libertiesto an assistant secretary level, with a seat at the management table, to be able to more directly influence agencywide decision-making. CAP focused on first-order questions about DHSs mission and value proposition and how that relates to the needs, challenges, and opportunities facing the nation today. DHS could also play an important role in countering disinformation in partnership with the State Departments Global Engagement Center. Altering an organization's structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest driver of success. DHS already plays a pivotal role in connecting nonfederal officials with their counterparts in the federal system and serves as the primary connection between state, local, tribal, and territorial officials and the federal government and its resources, as well as between the private and public sectors, including civil society organizations. Then, the Biden administration and Congress should work together to realign DHSs resources to support these strategic priorities and ensure they are carried out consistently with annual authorization legislation. Stay informed on the most pressing issues of our time. 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. An official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office, housed within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has ballooned to 7,100 agents in 225 cities nationwide and is now one of the largest federal investigative agencies within the U.S. government.24 HSI claims broad legal authority to investigate a wide range of domestic and international criminal activities arising from the illegal movement of people, goods, money, and contraband into and within the United States and has access to the information stored in the CIRS database. Teams involved in the development, drafting, and editing include National Security and International Policy, Immigration, Art, Editorial, and Videowith significant contributions from Sofia Carratala, Lauren Vicary, Jasmine Hardy, Hai-Lam Phan, and Chester Hawkins. The Biden administration and Congress have the opportunity to transform DHS into an agency that provides much greater value to the American people and those who visit or seek safety or opportunity here. As discussed above, broad interpretation of DHS authorities by former department officials has led to questionable activities and occasions of abuse or violations, particularly in the immigration space.75 One example of these broad authorities occurred when the Trump administration deployed DHS officials to respond to protests in Portland, Oregon, where the administration stretched legal authorities to justify activities that harmed the public that DHS is supposed to serve. Understanding these foundational issues and why they have not been effectively addressed is critical to articulating a new vision for DHSone that focuses headquarters limited attention on the right set of priorities. But the prevention mission must focus on the increasing prevalence of domestic challenges and borderless threats, including white supremacist-fueled domestic extremism, natural disasters, and cyberattacks, as well as external threats. DHS should work toward expanding existing capacity and investing in new, flexible headquarters and regional capabilities that can address a wide range of emergencies and situations. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { It screens and vets travelers, interacts with asylum-seekers and aspiring citizens, provides emergency support during natural and human-made disasters, and performs certain law enforcement functionseach of which results in the collection and retention of information on U.S. persons. DHS is best suited to collect information that other agencies cannot, primarily at ports of entry, and use that information for intelligence purposes. After the departments abysmal response to Hurricane Katrina, reformers pushed for DHS to take an all hazards approach and develop capacities and capabilities to respond to a wide range of potential disasters.26 Then, after the failed bombing attempt on a flight to Detroit on Christmas in 2009, the department shifted again to double down on terrorism prevention as the cornerstone of homeland security.27 More recently, the Trump administration radically reoriented DHSs focus toward the southern border and interior enforcement, shifting the headquarters-level focus toward immigration enforcement and deportation and diverting resources toward President Donald Trumps ill-conceived border wall.28 Far from clarifying the departments role and priorities, these swings have left the department fatigued and poorly aligned with any overarching strategic goal. Assistance and legislation # x27 ; s structure requires careful planning, what is the organizational structure of dhs it can the. 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