The recent SolarWinds hack affected an estimated 18,000 government and private computers at the departments of Justice, State, Treasury, Energy, and Commercean alarming national security attack perpetrated by the Russian government.50 One of the notable successes from the Trump administrations DHS was that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) carved out a clear and useful role for itself as the Nations risk advisor, working with partners to defend against todays threats and collaborating to build more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future.51 There is a clear need for further developing the U.S. response by expanding the indicators and mechanisms for sharing cyberthreat information. The governments current mechanisms for communicating threat information to the public and private sectors are inadequate. Second, DHS should recalibrate its activities at the border to emphasize efficient and secure management of the flow of goods and people while welcoming asylum-seekers with a safe, legal, and orderly process for them to seek refuge in America; to rehabilitate its relationships in border communities; and to work to create a vibrant border region.67. The muddled intelligence mission and an expansive set of authorities present a worrying combination that has led to abusive activities and human rights violations. This fractured structure makes it nearly impossible for DHS headquarters leaders to manage the department effectively or efficiently.36 CAP has joined the Atlantic Council and the CNAS in calling for consolidated oversight of DHS.37 In addition, six former secretaries and acting secretaries of homeland security recently signed a letter to congressional leadership calling for the House and Senate to consolidate congressional oversight of DHS in a single authorizing committeeas is done for other departments such as the Department of Defense.38 A more streamlined structure under one authorizing and one appropriating committeesuch as that governing the Pentagon post-Goldwater-Nichols reform, where oversight was centralized under the Armed Services committeeswould allow lawmakers to more effectively oversee the broad range of the departments activities and ensure they are properly balanced against the agencys overall priorities.39 The recent memorandum of understanding announced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a welcome step toward improving oversight coordination among the various committees that have jurisdiction over DHS, but more work is needed to centralize authority under the Committee on Homeland Security in the House and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the Senate.40. 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. CAP recommends that DHS components that are primarily or exclusively focused on enforcing federal laws should be transferred to other federal departments. Efforts are underway to improve departmentwide workforce satisfaction, measured through yearly index scores such as the inclusion and employee engagement indexes. 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. About. Natural disaster-related losseshuman, ecosystem, and economicwill become more frequent and catastrophic due to climate change. Or it might mean partnering with technology companies to thwart domestic extremist messaging on online platforms. DHS regularly interacts withand collects information onAmericans and U.S. persons in the routine course of its duties. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { They lent us their time and expertise over the past six months to help shape our understanding of what the mission and value proposition of DHS should be in todays world in order to address the needs, challenges, and opportunities facing the nation and to develop and refine our recommendations. DHS must recognize that many serious challenges to Americas safety and security originate at home or are largely borderless by nature. Operational and Support Components What Is an Organizational Structure? DHS could also develop better warning and prediction systems that enable a more proactive federal response and assistance presence. We are sincerely thankful for their support. Om//~0V#j&I."R!,rP_fnme0KE(BG Others believe DHS is absent today and falls short in serving Americans safety and security needs. 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. Welcome Patrol: how some border agents are struggling with Bidens policy shift, Reuters, May 14, 2021, available at, Most policymakers would likely be surprised to find out that the Border Patrol considers itself primarily in the business of preventing the entry of terrorist and terrorist weapons from entering the United States between official ports of entry, whereas the Office of Field Operations, in its own estimation, has a more balanced mission, responsible for border securityincluding anti-terrorism, immigration, anti-smuggling, trade compliance, and agriculture protectionwhile simultaneously facilitating the lawful trade and travel at U.S. ports of entry that is critical to our Nations economy. See U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Executive Assistant Commissioners Offices, available at, Ron Nixon, Department Commandant Lays Out Coast Guards Successes and Challenges,, For example, the ACLU has documented CBPs interpretation of its authority to operate within 100 miles of any external boundary as key to documented abuses: In practice, Border Patrol agents routinely ignore or misunderstand the limits of their legal authority in the course of individual stops, resulting in violations of the constitutional rights of innocent people. See ACLU, The Constitution in the 100-Mile Border Zone, available at, Andrew Crespo, Unpacking DHSs Troubling Explanation of the Portland Van Video, Lawfare, July 25, 2020, available at, Office of Inspector General, DHS Lacks Oversight of Component Use of Force (Redacted) (Washington: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2017), available at, Congressional Research Service, National Special Security Events: Fact Sheet (Washington: 2021), available at, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICEs Mission, available at, See, for example, Peter L. Markowitz, A New Paradigm for Humane and Effective Immigration Enforcement (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2020), available at, Matt Zapotosky and Chico Harlan, Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons,. Organization Chart | Office of Inspector General Consistent with CDC guidance, most Office of Inspector General employees are currently serving the American people remotely. HSI, within ICE, investigates transnational crime and threats and claims a role in nearly all criminal activity, even those only tangentially related to DHSs mission. In part because of the disparate nature of DHS authorizing and appropriating entities, Congress has never passed an authorization bill for the department. A well-managed border will be safe and secure while also efficiently offering different services needed to travel, trade, or seek asylum in the United States. Finally, it would ensure that DHS is most effectively positioned to solve national challenges. subscribe.submit(); Though the independence of the DOJ and FBI has been tested in the pastduring the J. Edgar Hoover era at the FBI, for example, and across the DOJ during the past four yearsrich institutional memory supported by decades of oversight at these other law enforcement agencies has resulted in unambiguous statutory authorities and well-established norms that have helped these institutions withstand politicization and guide department behavior. Critical Infrastructure Sectors. An organizational structure is a system that outlines how certain activities are directed in order to achieve the goals of an organization. CAP also recognizes that the safety and services framework proposed will, in many areas, be enabled by the departments threat management capabilities. He is responsible for overseeing the organization's contracting functions with a focus on integrity and positive impact. 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 should reduce its TOC efforts and transfer investigative leads and other TOC activities to the DOJ. 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. This approach should apply for other national incidents and emergencies as well. 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. Alexandra Schmitt is a senior policy analyst on the National Security and International Policy team at the Center. But meaningful change will also require headquarters-level prioritization and the establishment of new internal incentives to drive CBPs cultural evolution. 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). 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. Meanwhile, with few exceptions, DHS has not yet found its stride in the conduct of its core responsibilities. Meanwhile, DHS is missing opportunities to meet needs that other departments and agencies cannot and opportunities to lead where DHSs unique strengths would be maximally effective in solving problems. A member of the IC, it is charged statutorily with delivering intelligence to state, local, tribal, and territorial officials, as well as private sector partners, and with developing intelligence from those partners for DHS and the IC.20 The under secretary of I&A is also the chief intelligence officer of the department, overseeing the intelligence activities of the various DHS component agencies. DHS, primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, is already the nations helper. These law enforcement roles enable the safety and services model to operate. What America needs from DHS today, however, is different from when it was founded. False and damaging disinformation about the security of the 2020 general election caused millions of Americans to question the election results and led to a violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. var onSuccessSubmitenSubscribeSlideUp = function() { As CAP has previously argued, Congress and the administration can do more to empower the current DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL). 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. Looking for U.S. government information and services? While the department must continue its efforts to enforce U.S. laws where applicable, those activities conducted at DHS should be primarily in service to the overall safety and services mission of the agency. It will also put the department and its workforce in a better position to focus on the needs that only DHS can meet given its flexible authorities and unique capacity to respond to a range of issues that fall between the gaps of responsibilities of other federal departments and agencies. =#|pl&m">+s\e4*O^N\.2%u%jkhJ{KZ":9-b@>o@XT!Ke?. Altering an organization's structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest driver of success. Todays digital environment means that our critical infrastructure is more connected and more dependent on functioning cybersecurity than ever. 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. Secretary of Homeland Security: 1. 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. 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. var onSuccessSubmitenSubscribeFooter = function() { The mission of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is to equip the Homeland Security Enterprise with the timely intelligence and information it needs to keep the homeland safe, secure, and resilient. Working to recruit and train CBP agents with the tools to excel at working with populations seeking protection will help create the foundations for a shift in cultural norms. The original legislation that created DHS tasked the new agency with seven primary missions, almost all of which relate to counterterrorism: The original administration proposal in June 2002 to create DHS proposed a clear and efficient organizational structure with four divisions: border and transportation security; emergency and preparedness response; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear countermeasures; and information analysis and infrastructure protection.16 By the time it came into existence, however, the original agencies and different components of the federal government brought together under the DHS umbrella represented a much broader range of activities.17. 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. Stay informed on the most pressing issues of our time. %%EOF But viewing immigration law violations, which are often civil in nature, through a punitive lens has resulted in a heavy-handed approach at the border and in the interior. This project and report reflect the contributions of many stakeholders, including former and current government officials, policy experts, and civil society members. Chief Accountability Officer, Gary Kramer. 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