CISA is one of DHSs most visible success stories. 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. Former Senior Policy Analyst, Former Managing Director, Immigration Policy, Silva Mathema, Zefitret Abera Molla, Kiera Manser, Jared C. Bass, Jesse OConnell, Haneul Lee, Tobias Harris, Alan Yu, Lawrence J. Korb, Kaveh Toofan. 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. A limited law and immigration enforcement role would focus DHS enforcement activities only on areas where they assist the support and services model and where other federal agencies and bureaucracies do not have a leading role to play. 2i{,g%_,=@,(}H30h*cD@ J 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. 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. (October 1, 1986), available at, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Pelosi Announces Agreement on Committee Jurisdiction Regarding Department of Homeland Security., Scott Shuchart, Building Meaningful Civil Rights and Liberties Oversight at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2019), available at. Monday, June 13, 2022. Homeland Security Investigations. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS 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. Many of todays most serious threats to Americas safety and prosperitynatural disasters, pandemic disease, cyberattacks, and violent white supremacyoriginate at home or are borderless by nature. Sign Up Organizational structure is the backbone of all the operating procedures and workflows at any company. Organization Organization The list of all Operational and Support Components that make up the Department along with our organization chart and the list of senior leadership. A. 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. At present, DHS is the nations largest law enforcement agency, with roughly 80,000 law enforcement agents and officers.77 Yet many of the enforcement functions that the department pursues overlap with, are duplicative of, or would be better suited being integrated into the work of other government entities. In 2017 and with overwhelming bipartisan support, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 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. 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. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, enacted in December 2004, established the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to lead intelligence integration across the 17 components that make up the U.S. intelligence community (IC). To maximize its value and effectiveness in todays environment, DHS should organizeand articulate its missionaround connecting, communicating, facilitating, welcoming, and helping, in addition to protecting, securing, preventing, and enforcing. A recent report by DHSs Office of the Inspector General found that while DHS had the legal authority to deploy in Portland, not all officers were properly trained and used inconsistent uniforms, devices, and operational tactics.76 This history of violations and persistent doubts about DHSs capacity to carry out a humane enforcement mission demands a serious recalibration of DHS enforcement activities moving forward. But there is no agency that currently leads the federal governments efforts at the national level to share information, advocate for greater government transparency, or develop new communications capacities that add value to the American people. Moving toward the safety and services model outlined in this report would allow DHS to calibrate its activities within a new mission maximally focused on delivering value to America. The departments founding mission to prevent another 9/11-style attack continues to influence its outsize focus on counterterrorismdespite the fact that DHSs ability to prevent terrorism is limited, and entities such as the FBI and NCTC are often in the lead statutorily. The United States needs a proactive emergency preparedness and resilience capacity and a flexible and capable response system that can respond to a wide range of emergencies quickly and efficiently. DHS has an uneven role in communicating threat information to the public. Katrina Mulligan is the acting vice president for National Security and International Policy at the Center. DHS still has an important role to play in preventing attacks against the United States and Americans at home and abroad. 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. It is critical to consider the following questions: What should be the primary focus of the department? 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. The organization of DHS is in accordance with the Homeland Security Act, as modified by previous notices to Congress under Section 872 of the Homeland Security Act and by future legislative enactments. Federal emergencies will continue to pose significant threats to Americans and their way of life. DHS should play a leading role in responding to all emergencies that threaten the safety and security of Americans, even when the response will rely heavily upon expertise housed in other federal departmentssuch as the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expertise that is critical to the pandemic responseor at the state level. DHS also suffers from low employee morale and poor satisfaction among its workforce: It ranked dead last among U.S. federal agencies in the most recent survey conducted by the Partnership for Public Service and has consistently been at the bottom of the list since 2010.44 While there are many reasons for low employee morale at DHS, the workforce culture is especially toxic within certain agencies that have overly politicized activities.45 ICE and the Border Patrol under the Trump administration, for example, focused on maximizing arrests and deportations with few limits on the targets for enforcement actions or the methods they would employthe clearest example being the Trump administrations cruel family separation policy.46 Personnel asked to pursue these political objectivesmost of whom are career public servantshave been required to perform deeply unpopular enforcement tasks that have not advanced sensible law enforcement or public safety priorities and have subjected them to sharp public criticism. This rebalancing does not ignore or downplay the risks that threaten American security and prosperity; rather, it properly focuses DHSs role on where it is positioned to be most effective rather than overlapping or duplicating the work of other federal agencies. An expanded role for DHS in managing information sharing and public disclosures of intelligence between federal entities and their local counterparts would be a valuable public service and enhance DHSs role as a communicator. It should also prioritize reducing the backlog of visa applications accumulated under the Trump administration.66 Focusing on these aspects will provide value to U.S. citizens, visitors, those who seek to become Americans, those who want to reunite with family members, and the businesses that rely on these individuals to help the U.S. economy grow. As part of reform efforts in 2006 after DHSs failed response to Hurricane Katrina, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) was established as an intelligence entity within DHS that would inform department operations and connect it to other federal intelligence efforts. !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 Altering an organization's structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest driver of success. An official website of the United States government. }. Ten regional offices that work directly with states, territories and tribes. 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. Yes No In an era of increased movement of people and goods across borders, we need a DHS that prioritizes the rule of law, and one that protects all Americans as well as everyone who comes to live, study, work, travel, and seek safety here. The current administration should work with the new secretary to empower the secretarys office and staff to better manage, delegate, and oversee responsibilities across the bureaucracy. FEMA recently covered DHS logos on vehicles used for vaccine distribution after concerns that the urban community it was targeting would refuse services from the department.69. (see p. 23). 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.