CISA is one of DHSs most visible success stories. As the department expands what it means to keep the nation secure, DHS should reimagine its role in protecting personal information and privacy. Because it is not the originator of most of the threat information it obtains, it has a limited ability to unilaterally disclose that information to the public, even when it may desire to do so. Without strengthened protections and an ethos committed to protecting all Americans equally, such sharing may do more harm than good. At the national level, DHSs attention and political emphasis is out of balance with many of todays most serious threats. Or it might mean partnering with technology companies to thwart domestic extremist messaging on online platforms. Operational and Support Components Leadership VDSS Organizational Structure VDSS consists of: Home Office in Richmond Virginia, which houses its Divisions and Program Areas Five Regional Offices which oversee and support community and local organizations Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) District Offices Licensing Offices Organizational Structure Report How has the departments mission changed since its creation? U.S. ET, Twitter, available at, These sectors include the chemical sector; commercial facilities; communications; critical manufacturing; dams; defense industrial base; emergency services; energy; financial services; food and agriculture; government facilities; health care and public health; information technology; nuclear records; materials and waste; transportation systems; and water and wastewater systems. We at U.S. Service orientation and safety need not be in tension; the Coast Guard provides a good model for how the two can be well balanced within a single organization. 714 0 obj <>stream Establishing a clear, narrowly tailored intelligence mission for DHS would help ensure that DHSs intelligence activities are lawful and useful, are shaped to achieve congressionally authorized goals, and are not violating the rights ofor being used to unfairly targetmarginalized or at-risk populations. var subscribe = document.getElementById('enSubscribeFooter'); He began his career as a district adjudications officer before transitioning to deportation officer with the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and he was a member of one of ICE's first fugitive operations teams and an instructor at the ICE Academy. We are determined to keep interruptions to our operations to a minimum, and we appreciate your patience during this time. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Threat Assessment (Washington: 2020), available at https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/2020_10_06_homeland-threat-assessment.pdf. It outlines the flow of information and the hierarchy of decision-making across roles and teams. 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. } The CRCL officer should lead and oversee the relevant offices within DHS which include the CRCL, the Privacy Office, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. 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. 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. Silva Mathema is the acting director of Immigration Policy at the Center. 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. 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. Public debate is split between those who call for the department, or parts of it, to be dismantled8 and those who argue that DHS needs more resources and responsibility.9Both approaches miss the point. CAP also recognizes that the safety and services framework proposed will, in many areas, be enabled by the departments threat management capabilities. This includes border management issues, where the focus should be more on facilitating safe and secure travel and commerce to ensure that businesses get the goods and workers they need, visitors are able to travel safely and efficiently, and families can be reunited more quickly. It has also warped the public perception of migrants as well as the political debate about immigration policy and has sidelined the service provider components of DHS which encompass the equally important mission of facilitating travel, trade, and administration of immigration benefits. First, DHS should adopt a service-oriented approach to citizenship and immigration services that is welcoming to immigrants and the U.S. citizens and residents hoping to sponsor them. endstream endobj 697 0 obj <>/Metadata 35 0 R/OCProperties<>/OCGs[702 0 R]>>/PageLabels 692 0 R/PageLayout/OneColumn/Pages 694 0 R/PieceInfo<>>>/StructTreeRoot 49 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 698 0 obj <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 699 0 obj <>stream DHS also has a traditional role in disaster relief services that should be expanded. 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. Citizenship and Immigration Services align our organizational structure to achieve the greatest efficiency and accomplish our mission. `~d2*i)-zX What Is an Organizational Structure? This helping mission would also naturally fit with DHSs existing role as a connector between federal resources and state and local authorities, which must work closely together during disaster management response and relief efforts. Recent examples include DHSs yearslong battle with the DOJ over which agency has the lead for transnational organized crime; tensions with the FBI and the IC over foreign influence and election interference roles and responsibilities;57 turf battles over cybersecurity jurisdiction between DHSs CISA and the National Security Agency;58 and persistent questions about the focus and utility of DHSs intelligence unit. Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country. 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. Advancing Racial Equity and Justice, Building an Economy for All, Restoring Social Trust in Democracy, Biden Administration, Foreign Policy, Immigration, National Security+4More. 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. Title: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Organizational Chart Author: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Created Date: 4/11/2012 1:38:31 PM Critical Infrastructure Sectors. The muddled intelligence mission and an expansive set of authorities present a worrying combination that has led to abusive activities and human rights violations. It determines the place and the role of each employee in the business, and is key to organizational development. 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 current administration should evaluate how much of this realignment can be done within existing statutory functions and what requires congressional assistance and legislation. Previously, Sally was a Law Clerk at U.S. %PDF-1.5 % DHS could become the lead for communicating threat information to the public, such as intelligence on threats to critical infrastructure, and could expand its capacity to work with law enforcement and intelligence agencies to appropriately protect sensitive intelligence while disclosing information necessary to enlist the private sector and the American people in protecting the nation. Had these functions been merged under the BOP when the Obama administration announced that it would end the use of private prisons in DOJ facilities,81 it would have likely meant a similar end to some of the most problematic facilities in the immigration context as well.82. 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. To effectively manage the bureaucracy and oversee the recalibration of the department mission, the Biden administration should work with Congress to increase resources to the DHS secretary and move away from the hyperdecentralization that characterizes its current structure. Here's how you know A change in policies alone will not achieve the goal of building a fair, humane, and workable immigration system. 696 0 obj <> endobj 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. These law enforcement roles enable the safety and services model to operate. FEMA is comprised of: Headquarters in Washington, D.C. where the Office of the Administrator and various program offices are located. As a result, DHS has not invested in building its capacity to respond to borderless threats, such as natural disasters and cyberattacks against government enterprises, and those, such as the growing threat from white supremacist violence, that originate within U.S. borders. Critics offer competing ideas about the sources of DHSs challenges. Om//~0V#j&I."R!,rP_fnme0KE(BG The authors further understand that merging the detention functionswhich are often civil rather than criminalwith the Bureau of Prisons could inadvertently add to the overcriminalization of immigration. I&A reportedly compiled dossiers on journalists covering the 2020 protests in Oregon, under a theory of expanded intelligence activities that DHS lawyers argued were necessary to mitigate the significant threat to homeland security that such activites posed.21 DHS has also ramped up the collection and retention of expanded categories of records during customs and immigration processing, including the collection of data on U.S. persons. Some of these include protecting critical infrastructure, including electricity and election security; administering citizenship and immigration services; and countering terrorism. 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. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { 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. Despite consensus among policymakers that the department could be far more effective,7 there is little agreement on how to fix it. 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. The current administration and Congress will need to work together for longer-term changes to institutionalize reforms. Sarnata Reynolds, Caroline Medina, Molly Weston Williamson, Rachael Eisenberg, Brandon Tucker, Hadi Sedigh. Soon thereafter, Congress also put the wheels in motion to stand up a new center for countering terrorism. But it is time for DHS to focus on the missions and activities that it is uniquely capable of carrying out, and for which it, rather than other agencies, is the natural lead. Mara Rudman is the executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress. In 2017 and with overwhelming bipartisan support, the House of Representatives passed H.R. Organizational structure is the backbone of all the operating procedures and workflows at any company. 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. DHS regularly interacts withand collects information onAmericans and U.S. persons in the routine course of its duties. Who we serve USCIS United States Coast Guard (USCG) USCG is the only military organization within DHS and protects the maritime economy and the environment, defends our maritime borders, and saves those at risk. Since the creation of DHS, challenges related to the foundations of the department and its operations have inhibited its performance. 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. Compared with executive branch agencies with longer histories and institutional protections and normssuch as the DOJ, founded in 1870, or the FBI, founded in 1908DHS lacks a history and culture of independence from political influence. DHS should continue to facilitate lawful international trade and travel, ensure that U.S. transportation services are safe, and maintain U.S waterways and maritime resources. Border Patrol agents, for example, would be focused on addressing border issues rather than being deployed in places such as Portland as Federal Protective Service (FPS) personnel. 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. After looking at each homeland security organizational structure, a number of recommendations were made that could benefit each entity. 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. Skip to main content. 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