A change in policies alone will not achieve the goal of building a fair, humane, and workable immigration system. How has the departments mission changed since its creation? 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. DHS, primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, is already the nations helper. Without strengthened protections and an ethos committed to protecting all Americans equally, such sharing may do more harm than good. The Department of Health Services (DHS) is one of the largest state agencies in Wisconsin, with an annual budget of roughly $15 billion and more than 6,300 employees. 2825, the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2017, which sought to reauthorize DHS for the first time since its creation.18 More recently in 2020, several House Democrats introduced H.R. DHS is committed to protecting and promoting the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin, making sure everyone can live their best life. Department leadership should work to clearly set limits on enforcement activities and constrain them appropriately to ensure past mistakes and abuses are not repeated and work with Congress to codify these restrictions. 'A969'NrzNETKhTa>$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 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. 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. It would also provide a framework through which officials could then turn to reforming the structure of DHS, to determine which elements of the agency need to stay within DHS and which may better fit within other parts of the bureaucracy. 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. In achieving this recalibration toward a safety and services model, the two biggest components of CBPthe Office of Field Operations (OFO), staffing ports of entry, and the Border Patrol, securing the border between portsshould be merged into one integrated entity focused on border management. Moreover, a dedicated, proactive focus on helping the public may provide a useful shift in DHSs public perceptionsomething sorely needed after the enforcement-heavy reputation it acquired during the Trump administration. DHS was formally established as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department on March 1, 2003, bringing 22 federal agencies under one umbrella to coordinate efforts to secure the homeland. 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. When disaster strikes, FEMA is oftenthough not often enoughthe nations first responder. 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. 0 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. (^9ghW:P ;mV]M[_i Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country. } 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. Organizational Structure Click on any block to visit that program office's web page. Katrina Mulligan and others, A National Policy Blueprint to End White Supremacist Violence (Washington: Center for American Progress and the McCain Institute, 2021), available at, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Organizational Chart., See, for example, reporting in 2014 highlighted by Radley Balko, DHS: A wasteful, growing, fear-mongering beast,, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Countering Foreign Influence Task Force, available at, Derek B. Johnson, With U.S. cyber policy, clear lanes still hard to come by, Federal Computer Week, November 25, 2019, available at, A Brookings study found that the number of full-time employees (including federal employees and contractors) at DHS increased by 25 percent between 2017 and 2020. Observers across the political spectrum have argued that, in the rush to stand up a new department, disparate components of the federal bureaucracy were shoe-horned into DHS, with mixed results.6 Todays DHS claims a role in most national security issuesand a number of issues that fall outside of national securitybut there are few areas where DHS leads the governments response and even fewer where it does so well and without controversy. Altering an organization's structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest driver of success. At the same time, DHS must do a better job of ensuring that its programs are not discriminatory and including serious guardrails for civil liberties to prevent bias-based activities, such as its past targeting of Muslims and other communities of color. We are determined to keep interruptions to our operations to a minimum, and we appreciate your patience during this time. 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. 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. It also helps ensure that DHS capacity is aligned to where DHS has the most to contribute. But with shared objectives in gaining a more effective agency that can deliver for and to the American people, it can be done. 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. 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. While the study does not make specific recommendations on the structure of DHS, this report proposes a framework that has implications for restructuring and recommends the DHS secretary and Congress realign the components of DHS around that framework. DHS Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans Organizational Chart View the current organizational chart for the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans. ICE is charged with enforcing immigration laws and investigating the illegal movement of people and goods. 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. At the same time, there is a clear need for strengthened protections and safeguards for civil liberties and privacy to prevent abusessuch as those DHS has committed in the pastwhereby religious, racial, ethnic, and migrant communities are disproportionately affected or targeted by such threat-sharing. 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. 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. 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. 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. This project and report reflect the contributions of many stakeholders, including former and current government officials, policy experts, and civil society members. Meanwhile, with few exceptions, DHS has not yet found its stride in the conduct of its core responsibilities. DHS also wastes energy vying over bureaucratic turf when it could be solving problems. Despite consensus among policymakers that the department could be far more effective,7 there is little agreement on how to fix it. An official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 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. In part because of the disparate nature of DHS authorizing and appropriating entities, Congress has never passed an authorization bill for the department. 696 0 obj <> endobj 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. subscribe.submit(); Establishing the protection of civil liberties and privacy as a core DHS mission would fill a critical gap in executive branch roles that is not currently being comprehensively addressed by other departments and agencies. With appropriate oversight and respect for civil liberties, the department has tremendous potential to advance public safety and provide critical services. 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. 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. DHS has a responsibility to safeguard the information it acquires and to protect the civil liberties and privacy of U.S. personsand all personswhen permitting the use of that information for other purposes. 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. Looking for U.S. government information and services? As the department expands what it means to keep the nation secure, DHS should reimagine its role in protecting personal information and privacy. At a minimum, your org structure should include employees' titles and basic hierarchies. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { (see p. 23). An expanded DHS role might focus on planned disaster response and preparedness as expectations for climate-related disasters increase. Even the Secret Service, which focuses largely on protecting elected leaders, plays an important role in ensuring public safety at National Special Security Events, playing a safety and services role that is critical to working with local communities across the nation on events of critical or high-visibility importance.78, In contrast, components such as the FPS and ICE are examples of DHS components that are primarily focused on enforcing federal laws and should not remain in a reimagined DHS. Moving forward, DHS should ensure that all agencies charged with transportation security and infrastructure maintenanceincluding the TSA but also the Coast Guard and CBPare charged with delivering safety and security to customers and contributing to the nations economic prosperity. (LockA locked padlock) And there is no other department with the mandate and track record of playing a bridging role between state, local, tribal, and territorial officials and the federal government. 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