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. The department can no longer fulfill its purpose by focusing disproportionately on international terrorism and immigration enforcement and must understand that enforcement-overdrive has damaged critical relationships with communities and their leaders all across the country.10. }. dataLayer.push({"event": "signup_submit", "form_detail":"enSubscribeSlideUp"}); 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. Previously, Sally was a Law Clerk at U.S. An official website of the United States government. 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. When disaster strikes, FEMA is oftenthough not often enoughthe nations first responder. Altering an organization's structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest driver of success. Recalibrating DHSs activities to fit the safety and services model, consistent with acknowledging and addressing threats that impede safety and services, would create space for a new vision for DHS. !f1!Belqe0-{eQ%!Fq\\O!CaOL9'tMf1lPEM>HsU ^4!ha.p5Gu+24r3eG~u!P A=hu3~>i8o5 B@bVBiKdY)VY;V!8a&6 e.b*T He is responsible for overseeing the organization's contracting functions with a focus on integrity and positive impact. In this role, he leads more than 60,000 employees and ensures the advancement of the agency's mission, strategic objectives, and related Administration priorities. Some believe that long-standing foundational problems have inhibited DHSs effectiveness as its missions and focus have expanded and morphed. Collections Infographics Keywords Intelligence Community Topics Homeland Security Enterprise Intelligence and Analysis Congress has repeatedly attempted to guide DHS and shape the prioritization of its missions but has achieved little success. Recent steps announced by Speaker Pelosis office toward centralizing authority under the House Committee on Homeland Security by the current Congress are a welcome step but need to be further developed and have not been taken up by the Senate.85 Congress and the Biden administration should build on these important reforms to further consolidate and centralize oversight responsibilities and work toward passing an annual authorization for the department. It might mean working with public and private sector stakeholders to deliver better information about risks to critical infrastructure. But meaningful change will also require headquarters-level prioritization and the establishment of new internal incentives to drive CBPs cultural evolution. 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. 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. Cybersecurity now demands a whole-of-government solution to protect national security, critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and sensitive personal information. These agenciesespecially CBP and ICEcenter their focus and activities around the law enforcement aspects of their functions. '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 It is the way in which a company or organization is organized, including the types of relationships that exist between the directors . DHS could also develop better warning and prediction systems that enable a more proactive federal response and assistance presence. DHS, primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, is already the nations helper. As DHS approaches its 20-year mark, the United States has an opportunity to redefine the departments value proposition for the future and to better align DHSs structure and activities with its mission. Finally, this report proposes near- and longer-term steps that the current administration could take to realize this vision and deliver better value for the American people. Likewise, the merging of the OFO and the Border Patrol would help to ensure effective border management that does more to help border communities, businesses, families, visitors, and those seeking refuge here, even as it continues to ensure a secure border. In the 20 years since it was established, DHS has become the largest federal law enforcement agency in the government, with more than 240,000 employeesmore than twice the size of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the lead department charged with law enforcement activities.13 DHSs budget has also more than doubled in size since its founding, from roughly $30 billion in fiscal year 2004 to more than $64 billion in FY 2018not counting disaster relief funds, which vary depending on emergencies that happen each year. var onSuccessSubmitenSubscribeFooter = function() { Balancing these missions effectively ensures that the Coast Guard can play a vital role in combating terrorism and interdicting drug trafficking while also leading efforts to save people, as it did during the deadly hurricanes in 2017 in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.74. These efforts have been at some times political and at other times reactive rather than grounded in a clear articulation of DHSs role within the federal bureaucracy. As then-nominee Alejandro Mayorkas argued in his confirmation hearing, DHS is and should be fundamentally, a department of partnerships.5 He is right. Federal emergencies will continue to pose significant threats to Americans and their way of life. The Department of Homeland Security should play an important role in addressing the challenges and threats of today and tomorrow, and it should do so in a way that upholds American ideals and provides value to those who live, study, work, travel, and seek shelter here. 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. 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. For more information about the offices and agencies that make up DHS, or to find out about the Department's leadership, click on the links below. Seizing the opportunity to reimagine what it means to keep America secure and recalibrate DHSs priorities accordingly would enable the department to refocus its efforts in areas where it can add unique value and ensure that the government fulfills its responsibility to guarantee the safety, security, and prosperity of all Americans and those who come to live, study, work, travel, and seek safety here. CAP also recognizes that the safety and services framework proposed will, in many areas, be enabled by the departments threat management capabilities. With the State Department focused on messaging abroad, DHS could play the lead for countering disinformation domestically. 2825, the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2017, which sought to reauthorize DHS for the first time since its creation.18 More recently in 2020, several House Democrats introduced H.R. The Biden administration should also work with Congress to significantly increase resources in future appropriations toward the secretarys front office to be more commensurate with the bureaucracys size and scope, ideally through reallocations within the existing budget. Together, these efforts produced the most significant government reorganization since the National Security Act of 1947. Soon thereafter, Congress also put the wheels in motion to stand up a new center for countering terrorism. As extreme weather events and changing environments become more common, DHS should quarterback incident response, leading coordination with state and local officials, leveraging its flexible and responsive capabilities, and drawing on capacity within other federal departments and agencies. To avoid duplicating the leading role of the FBI and NCTC, DHS should reduce its investigative activities and narrow the focus of its counterterrorism intelligence analysis, as described more fully below. What Is an Organizational Structure? Alexandra Schmitt is a senior policy analyst on the National Security and International Policy team at the Center. Each employee's position is identified, including their function and who they report to within the firm. 8791, the Department of Homeland Security Reform Act of 2020 As Introduced by Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), available at, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, available at, Steve Vladeck and Benjamin Wittes, DHS Authorizes Domestic Surveillance to Protect Statues and Monuments, Lawfare, July 20, 2020, available at, Federal Register, Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records, September 18, 2017, available at, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Privacy Act of 1974; DHS/CBP-024 Intelligence Records System (CIRS) System of Records,, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, available at, U.S. National Archives, Executive Order 12333 United States intelligence activities, December 4, 1981, available at, Mitch Lortz, What is the All-Hazards Approach to Emergency Preparedness?, Everbridge, January 9, 2018, available at, For example, a 2010 fact sheet released a year after the bombing highlighted department reforms aimed at enhancing counterterrorism efforts and claimed, Protecting the United States from terrorism is the cornerstone of homeland security. Press Office, Department of Homeland Security 2010 Accomplishments & Reforms (Washington: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2010), available at, Nick Miroff, Trump shifting DHS focus from counterterrorism to immigration,, Kaveh Waddell, America Already Had a Muslim Registry,, Sari Horwitz and Jerry Markon, Racial profiling will still be allowed at airports, along border despite new policy,, American Civil Liberties Union, National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, available at, Carrie Cordero, Reforming the Department of Homeland Security Through Enhanced Oversight & Accountability (Washington: Center for a New American Security, 2020), available at, Richard Gonzales, ICE Detains Alleged Victim Of Domestic Abuse At Texas Courthouse, NPR, February 16, 2017, available at, American Civil Liberties Union, ICE and Border Patrol Abuses, available at, Ryan Brooks, ICE Deported A Survivor Of The El Paso Walmart Shooting Who Was Assisting In The Investigation, Her Lawyers Says, Buzzfeed News, January 30 2021, available at, Donald J. Mihalek, Congressional committee power erodes homeland security,, The Atlantic Council, The Future of DHS project: Time to reform Congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, December 17, 2020, available at, Atlantic Council, Former and Acting Secretaries of Homeland Security sign open letter on consolidating congressional jurisdiction over DHS, Press release, November 9, 2020, available at, Carrie Cordero and Katrina Mulligan, Modernizing the Department of Homeland Security, Lawfare, December 9, 2020, available at, Office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Pelosi Announces Agreement on Committee Jurisdiction Regarding Department of Homeland Security, Press release, January 25, 2021, available at, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Since no part of Congress authorizes the entire departmentwide functions, DHSs appropriators have largely become the subcommittees of de facto jurisdiction over the department. Organizational Chart See how the Department of Homeland Security and all of its component agencies are organized by exploring the Organizational Chart. In a world where the public and private sectors must take independent action to ensure Americas safety and security, the government needs a trusted, effective mechanism to communicate threat information, including intelligence information, with the public and private sectors and between different levels of state, local, and federal government officials. DHS is best suited to collect information that other agencies cannot, primarily at ports of entry, and use that information for intelligence purposes. Including disaster relief, DHSs budget was more than $88 billion last fiscal yeartriple its size 20 years ago and almost triple the DOJs annual budget of $32.4 billion last year.14. Efforts are underway to improve departmentwide workforce satisfaction, measured through yearly index scores such as the inclusion and employee engagement indexes. The muddled intelligence mission and an expansive set of authorities present a worrying combination that has led to abusive activities and human rights violations. Paul C. Light, The true size of government is nearing a record high, Brookings Institution, October 7, 2020, available at, Joshua Breisblatt, Spike in Corruption Followed Last Hiring Surge at CBP and ICE, Immigration Impact, April 25, 2017, available at, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, About CISA., To ensure the government does not inappropriately influence U.S. public opinion and discourse, Congress needs to strengthen its oversight and laws outlawing domestic government propaganda (currently articulated under the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012). This will also help reduce DHSs involvement in activities better left to other federal agencies that have more appropriate authorities, experience, and workforces, while ensuring that Americas security needs continue to be addressed by the federal government. HT]VBi#BPmd=3;gN3AMA:D(]H.Jp! 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. As DHS as a whole intensifies focus on safety and service, law enforcement efforts should occur within this context rather than as the primary mission. Renewing the DHS workforce also is critical to the departments long-term success. 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. Threats from domestic violent extremism are rapidly growing in the United States and endanger our way of life, our values, and our democracy.52 CAP has called for a strong, coordinated response that marshals the weight of the federal government and uses the right tools, developed using fact-based evidence, to reduce the likelihood of violent attacks before they occur.53 While federal efforts to respond to domestic violent extremism primarily fall within the FBIs authority, and because there are strong arguments that some prevention efforts would be better housed in the departments of Education or Health and Human Services, there is no agency charged with taking the lead in countering disinformation, coordinating federal grantmaking programs to promote resilience (along with the DOJs Office of Justice Programs), and providing support for risk-based prevention responses. This means, for example, dialing up DHSs focus on disaster relief and cybersecurity and dialing down its law enforcement focus, particularly where other government agencies have or should have primary responsibility. Secretary Deputy Secretary Chief of Staff Immediate Office of the Secretary (IOS) Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA) Office of the Secretary Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA) CAP conducted a qualitative study and review of DHS informed by discussions with more than 35 stakeholdersincluding former and current government officials, policy experts, and civil society membersfrom November 2020 to May 2021. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is the principal investigative component of DHS and is responsible for investigating, disrupting, and dismantling transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and terrorist networks that threaten or seek to exploit the customs and immigration laws of the United States. Joel Martinez is the Mexico policy analyst for National Security and International Policy at the Center. Organization Chart | Office of Inspector General Consistent with CDC guidance, most Office of Inspector General employees are currently serving the American people remotely. 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. Sign Up The FPS protects federal facilities, their occupants, and visitors by providing law enforcement and protective security services. If policymakers want to improve the work of DHS, they must start with a focus on todays homeland security needs, defining the departments role and identifying what value it should provide today. The Department of Health Services has ten divisions and offices that work to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin, helping everyone live their best life. There is also a need for a more empowered and proactive agency that shares cyberthreat intelligence between businesses and government agencies, with the aim of helping organizations quickly identify and mitigate potential cyberincursions. DHS I&A has long focused diffusely, to the detriment of focusing more precisely where it can make unique contributions. To bring its law enforcement and service provision roles into similar balance, CBP must understand and embrace its important role in providing service to asylum-seekers at the border. 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. There has been a long-standing bureaucratic battle between the DOJ and DHS over which federal agency has the lead on countering transnational organized crime (TOC). Chief Accountability Officer, Gary Kramer. DHS Assistant Secretary of Operations - Dulce Quintero. In cases where special expertise is required, DHS can serve as an emergency response quarterback, identifying resources and making them available to the departments and agencies that need them. See the organizational chart for the Department of Homeland Security. Though it will be hard, the potential outcome would be well worth the effort; the entire system would start moving toward being more fair, humane, and workable. DHS has an uneven role in communicating threat information to the public. He directs CBP's three core missions of counterterrorism, border security, and trade . Philip E. Wolgin is the acting vice president of Immigration Policy at the Center. FEMA is comprised of: Headquarters in Washington, D.C. where the Office of the Administrator and various program offices are located. 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. These. Mara Rudman, Rudy deLeon, Joel Martinez, 5 More HW]o6}7@`s! dataLayer.push({"event": "signup_submit", "form_detail":"enSubscribeFooter"}); Despite consensus among policymakers that the department could be far more effective,7 there is little agreement on how to fix it. CAP recommends that DHS components that are primarily or exclusively focused on enforcing federal laws should be transferred to other federal departments. It would also enable DHS to further build partnerships between the federal government and counterparts in state and local government and the private sector, if properly managed with safeguards to protect civil liberties and privacy. Organizational structures describe what employees do, whom they report to, and how decisions are made across the business. See U.S. Agency for Global Media, Legislation: Facts About Smith-Mundt Modernization, available at, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Statement from CISA Director Krebs Following Final Day of Voting, Press release, November 4, 2020, available at, AllOnGeorgia, TSA Touting Success: 10 Million Pre-Check Enrollees, March 9, 2020, available at, American Civil Liberties Union, National Security Entry-Exit Registration System; American Civil Liberties Union, Secure Communities (S-COMM); Aarti Kohli, Peter L. Markowitz, and Lisa Chavez, Secure Communities by the Numbers: An Analysis of Demographics and Due Process (Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley Law School, 2011), available at, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Walled Off: How USCIS Has Closed Its Doors on Customers and Strayed from Its Statutory Customer Service Mission, February 12, 2021, available at, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Trade, available at, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, available at, Lisa Fernandez, @ljfernandez, February 19, 2021, 3:45 p.m. In doing so, DHS can uniquely enlist the private sector and the American people in protecting the nation. Likewise, while CAP has long argued that the nation should move away from a system based on large-scale immigration detention and toward alternatives such as community supervision,80 for the limited immigration detention that would remain, it would be more effective to have this function merged with, for example, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), also under the DOJ. Homeland Security Investigations. DHS currently protects 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose networks and systems are deemed crucial to U.S. national security, economic security, and public health and safety, such as the critical manufacturing, communications, and energy sectors.70 These needs will only increase as digital connectivity plays a growing role in daily American life, particularly as the pandemic has forced many to work from home and increased everyones dependence on internet access. Six former secretaries and acting secretaries of DHS recently advocated for consolidation under a single authorizing committee in each chamber, warning that achieving other needed reforms to the department is not possible with fragmented jurisdiction.83 Congressionally driven efforts to improve oversight coordination, such as the Goldwater-Nichols reforms of the Pentagon,84 significantly improved that departments functioning and enabled better oversight to secure U.S. national interests. Katrina Mulligan is the acting vice president for National Security and International Policy at the Center. That might mean proactively engaging with American businesses, alongside CBP, to inform efforts to improve the movement of goods and people across borders or refining immigration services so that processes dignify and welcome those who seek to invest their talents here. Meanwhile, with few exceptions, DHS has not yet found its stride in the conduct of its core responsibilities. U.S. Finally, I&A should develop intelligence from those partners to share with the rest of the IC, within the appropriate guardrails of civil liberties and privacy protections against stereotypes and biased profiling. Johan Hassel, Kate Donald, Laura Kilbury, 1 More Secretary of Homeland Security: 1. Yes No An organizational structure is a system that outlines how certain activities are directed in order to achieve the goals of an organization. With appropriate oversight and respect for civil liberties, the department has tremendous potential to advance public safety and provide critical services. And how can DHS provide value to the American people and those who visit or seek safety or opportunity here? 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. 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. Abbott announces approval of federal emergency declaration for severe winter weather, February 14, 2021, available at, Fernandez and others, People Actively Hate Us: Inside the Border Patrols Morale Crisis; Ted Hesson, Kristina Cooke, and Mica Rosenberg, U.S.
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