DHS should prioritize service and partnerships, connecting people in the United States to federal services and providing value to the American people and those who live, study, work, travel, or seek safety here. 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. An official website of the United States government. %%EOF CAP also recognizes that the safety and services framework proposed will, in many areas, be enabled by the departments threat management capabilities. 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. Seizing the opportunity to bring DHSs purpose into focus and recalibrate the departments priorities could also result in a department that fills critical gaps in the current federal bureaucracy. 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. Together, these efforts produced the most significant government reorganization since the National Security Act of 1947. 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. Previously, Sally was a Law Clerk at U.S. Altering an organization's structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest driver of success. 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. dataLayer.push({"event": "signup_submit", "form_detail":"enSubscribeSlideUp"}); 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. 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. Organizational Structure Click on any block to visit that program office's web page. When disaster strikes, FEMA is oftenthough not often enoughthe nations first responder. 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 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. 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. DHS should reduce its counterterrorism investigative and intelligence analysis activities, as described below, and focus its efforts where it has unique responsibilities and authorities: managing the border, countering disinformation, countering violent white supremacy, and investing in evidence-based prevention approaches. Recalibrating the DHS mission would empower the agency and its workforce to play a more effective role in the federal bureaucracy. Department of Homeland Security Organizational Chart, available at, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FY 2020 Budget in Brief (Washington: 2020), available at, Warrick and Durkovich, Future of DHS Project; Cordero, Reforming the Department of Homeland Security Through Enhanced Oversight & Accountability., Partnership for Public Service, Best Places to Work Agency Rankings (Washington: 2021), available at, Manny Fernandez and others, People Actively Hate Us: Inside the Border Patrols Morale Crisis,, Tal Kopan, Trumps executive orders dramatically expand power of immigration officers, CNN, January 28, 2017, available at, Paul J. Angelo, Why Central American Migrants Are Arriving at the U.S. Border (Washington: Council on Foreign Relations, 2021), available at, Anneliese Hermann, Asylum in the Trump Era: The Quiet Dismantling of National and International Norms (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2018), available at, Center for Migration Studies, President Bidens Executive Action on immigration, available at, Bill Whitaker, SolarWinds: How Russian Spies Hacked the Justice, State, Treasury, Energy, and Commerce Departments, CBS News, February 14, 2021, available at, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, About CISA, available at. Contract Administration - Brian Bond, Director. ` " Troy A. Miller is the Acting Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). A change in policies alone will not achieve the goal of building a fair, humane, and workable immigration system. For example, CBP could greatly benefit from specialized training of its Border Patrol agents to initiate a cultural change of its workforce and prepare them to handle asylum-seekers at the border humanely and fairly. FEMA is comprised of: Headquarters in Washington, D.C. where the Office of the Administrator and various program offices are located. CAP concludes that DHS components that are primarily or exclusively focused on enforcing federal laws do not belong in a reimagined DHS and should be transferred to other federal departments. There is no other department with DHSs range of flexible authorities and unique capacity to respond to these issues and others that fall between the gaps of responsibilities of other federal departments and agencies. The authors understand that this would result in a further fractured immigration bureaucracy, with border enforcement staying within the department but enforcement moving out of DHS. A full list of supporters is available here. 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. Citizenship and Immigration Services align our organizational structure to achieve the greatest efficiency and accomplish our mission. 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. 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. 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. 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. Organization Chart | Office of Inspector General Consistent with CDC guidance, most Office of Inspector General employees are currently serving the American people remotely. Organizational structure is the backbone of all the operating procedures and workflows at any company. And how can DHS provide value to the American people and those who visit or seek safety or opportunity here? 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. While the department will continue its efforts to protect, secure, prevent, and enforce,4 CAP proposes a strategic shift to a safety and services framework for DHS that would bring the departments existing responsibilities into balance and realign its priorities around five new core values: connecting, communicating, facilitating, welcoming, and helping. While the department still has an important role to play in preventing attacks against the United States from abroad, many of todays most serious risks to Americas safety and prosperityincluding natural disasters, pandemic disease, cyberattacks, and domestic extremism fueled by white supremacyoriginate at home or are borderless by nature. 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. 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. 0 While the department still has an important role to play in preventing attacks against the United States from abroad, it is time to refine the departments mission and priorities to ensure that they fit current needs. DHS regularly interacts withand collects information onAmericans and U.S. persons in the routine course of its duties. At the same time, past mistakes in prevention-based programs have been well documented, and a more proactive government approach must carefully consider potential risks to civil rights and liberties when designing programs to counter violent extremism of any ideological bent.54. DHS also plays a critical role in adjudicating immigration benefits and promoting naturalization, which are the primary functions of USCIS. As is apparent from a quick glance at a DHS organizational chart, the department is involved in a broad range of activities and coordinates a massive workforce of more than 240,000 federal employees.55 In the 20 years since it was founded, DHSs broad authorities and short attention span have led to mission creep,56 with DHS assuming new missions and creating new programs that are untethered to any overarching strategic goal. 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. 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. subscribe.submit(); Despite consensus among policymakers that the department could be far more effective,7 there is little agreement on how to fix it. 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. Om//~0V#j&I."R!,rP_fnme0KE(BG See the organizational chart for the Department of Homeland Security. DHS should maintain its core objective of securely, efficiently, humanely managing our air, land, and maritime borders. An organizational structure is a hierarchical outline of a company's roles, teams, and employees. An organizational structure is the allocation of authority and responsibility within a company. 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. Next, the report reimagines what it means to keep America secure in todays world and provides a new framework for rebalancing the departments focus toward new and emerging needs. 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. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. As the department expands what it means to keep the nation secure, DHS should reimagine its role in protecting personal information and privacy. Homeland Security Investigations. Future enforcement activities need to be balanced within broader department goals of safety and service and focused exclusively where DHS is the lead actor rather than in areas in which other federal agenciessuch as, for example, the DOJplay a leading role. A shift toward a more service-driven department that treats immigration as an asset to be managed rather than a crime to be enforced against would go a long way in building a rational border management apparatus that facilitates the secure, efficient movement of people and goods while also ensuring a humane approach toward refugees requesting protection under U.S. asylum laws. 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. 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. Given these demands, DHS will be relied upon to bridge the gap between public and privately owned infrastructure and ensure that federal protection efforts can effectively extend to all sectors and are executed with strong civil liberties and privacy protections in place. The organizational structure of, for example, a company is a system used to define its hierarchy. Sarnata Reynolds, Caroline Medina, Molly Weston Williamson, Rachael Eisenberg, Brandon Tucker, Hadi Sedigh. Johan Hassel, Kate Donald, Laura Kilbury, 1 More 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 the national level, DHSs attention and political emphasis is out of balance with many of todays most serious threats. }. 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. Despite consensus among policymakers that the department could be far more effective,1 there is little agreement on how to fix it. Despite being hamstrung by political leaders, some DHS officials nonetheless publicly reassured the nation that there was no evidence any foreign adversary was capable of preventing Americans from voting or changing vote tallies.63 Such steps were critical to maintaining credibility in the elections. 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. 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. Ten regional offices that work directly with states, territories and tribes. Operational and Support Components A list of all Operational and Support Components that make up DHS. 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