what is the organizational structure of dhs

DHS already plays an important role connecting federal entities and officials to their state, local, tribal, and territorial counterparts and has had success coordinating security and resilience efforts across the private and public sectors through Joint Terrorism Task Forces and other mechanisms. For more information about the offices and agencies that make up DHS, or to find out about the Department's leadership, click on the links below. 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. 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. Going forward, DHS should reorganize its activities around roles in connecting, communicating, facilitating, welcoming, and helpingin addition to a recalibrated role for protecting, securing, preventing, and enforcing. 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. 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. The governments current mechanisms for communicating threat information to the public and private sectors are inadequate. DHS lacks those bureaucratic guardrails, and the consequences of weak constraints on DHS became particularly clear during the Trump administration. In a world where the public and private sectors must take independent action to ensure Americas safety and security, the government needs a trusted, effective mechanism to communicate threat information, including intelligence information, with the public and private sectors and between different levels of state, local, and federal government officials. A better-managed system would also plan for shifting flows of migrants and asylum-seekers at the border, anticipate the infrastructure needed to safely and humanely process and screen them, and cultivate a welcoming culture of front-line service agents. Contract Administration - Brian Bond, Director. Whether leading the federal response or coordinating other federal players, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations, the United States needs an agency charged with emergency preparedness and response capabilities that serves as the lead coordinator of U.S. government emergency preparedness and response efforts on the wide range of emergencies that affect the country. or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. 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. Rob Ries is the Health and Human Services Commission's deputy executive commissioner of Compliance and Quality Control. HW]o6}7@`s! 696 0 obj <> endobj Soon thereafter, Congress also put the wheels in motion to stand up a new center for countering terrorism. Hiring surges in the DHS workforceincluding recently during the Trump administrations expansion of the law enforcement officer rankshave led to significant workforce growth at DHS in a short period of time.59 In some cases, this growth was accompanied by poor quality control in hiring: Investigations following hiring surges in ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have shown that following these large influxes of new hires, cases of corruption and misconduct spiked.60 Going forward, DHS has the opportunity to better align its human capital to meet current needs. 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. It then provides an analysis of DHSs challenges, highlighting long-standing foundational problems, including where the department is absent or not contributing. With the State Department focused on messaging abroad, DHS could play the lead for countering disinformation domestically. Each employee's position is identified, including their function and who they report to within the firm. 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. An official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 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. 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. (^9ghW:P ;mV]M[_i The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. Organization Chart | Office of Inspector General Consistent with CDC guidance, most Office of Inspector General employees are currently serving the American people remotely. 714 0 obj <>stream These. Organizational Chart See how the Department of Homeland Security and all of its component agencies are organized by exploring the Organizational Chart. But the current DHS operating emphasis precludes its effectiveness in squarely meeting this central mission or fulfilling unmet needs today. }. 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. 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 $64 billion in FY 2018not counting disaster relief funds, which vary depending on emergencies that happen each year. !6nuM)CtW$okCLzOiR$F&Ar,>7Om0h@8n8jV(OG)n*YGdDvKL~&7;9 {;1g\w0cwo#4)LaN|q.:-X2 `-5 cL`&@[;`A*|^4vc9ZZA\(cGPZ|xFar+f3lrt-c7&:~3-Ua`QKW. HHS Organizational Charts Office of Secretary and Divisions Select an office to see its organizational chart. FEMA declared an emergency and allowed Texans to apply for federal assistance for storm recovery,71 but a more proactive responsewith better cooperation at the state and local levelmight have prevented such severe destruction from occurring in the first place. Mr. Price has more than two decades of federal law enforcement experience. By fully realizing the role envisioned for the secretary of DHS in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5enhancing the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents by establishing a single comprehensive national incident management system68as the principal federal official for domestic incident management, DHS can serve as a force multiplier for the rest of the federal government and use its institutional memory to improve Americas resilience to anything that humankind or nature throws its way. DHS is best suited to collect information that other agencies cannot, primarily at ports of entry, and use that information for intelligence purposes. )M&bmVAi[-yH]R$[T >sp6Ih9}gOEj@0!C~oB?gc&q c)m1sm4`8RD? ` " About. The Hypothermia Alert will be ACTIVATED at 7 PM, Tuesday, February 28, 2023. . Despite consensus among policymakers that the department could be far more effective,7 there is little agreement on how to fix it. 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. However, the DHS secretary should launch an initiative specifically to study the departments recruitment, retention, and training efforts to further identify areas of success and for improvement. DHS has used its authorities in ways that have eroded already weak trust among swaths of the American population, particularly among marginalized communities. 2i{,g%_,=@,(}H30h*cD@ J In the future, DHS should continue to play a growing role in communicating with the American public about threats, dispelling disinformation, and serving as a reliable source of information. An official website of the United States government. =#|pl&m">+s\e4*O^N\.2%u%jkhJ{KZ":9-b@>o@XT!Ke?. Beyond the information the department collects and retains, DHS also has an important role to play in safeguarding the security of personal or private information from malicious cyberactors and foreign governments. Congress has repeatedly attempted to guide DHS and shape the prioritization of its missions but has achieved little success. 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. 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. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is the civilian national intelligence component of the United States Department of Homeland Security and one of two statutory members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) within DHS, the other being Coast Guard Intelligence.It is the only member of the IC tasked with providing intelligence to State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT . 8719, the DHS Reform Act of 2020, in response to perceived abuses of DHSs authorities during the Trump administration.19 Congress never passed either bill, however, and congressional oversight remains divided and largely ineffective at setting overall priorities for the department. 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. Cybersecurity now demands a whole-of-government solution to protect national security, critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and sensitive personal information. Stay informed on the most pressing issues of our time. CBP would still retain its law enforcement functions, but it would operate with a better understanding of the broader agendaas well as the border communitiesit serves. Eleven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then-Pennsylvania Gov. Without clear and streamlined oversight responsibilities, Congress lacks the ability to act in its appropriate legislative role to set and guide the departments priorities and activities. While the Coast Guard plays an important role in maritime security and maritime law enforcement efforts, it is also responsible forand takes great pride insearch and rescue and disaster relief efforts. var subscribe = document.getElementById('enSubscribeFooter'); 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. 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. It is time to reimagine what it means to keep America safe, secure, and prosperous in todays world and to recalibrate the priorities of the department charged with doing so. Looking for U.S. government information and services? subscribe.submit(); hb```b``f% cf`apeXbh`xIIQXsr`Sd` Q All subordinate Components must abide by the organizational structure outlined herein. To meet the challenges of today, the Biden administration and Congress should reform the Department of Homeland Security around a mission that highlights safety and services alongside its traditional protecting roles. ICE is charged with enforcing immigration laws and investigating the illegal movement of people and goods. Elisa Massimino is a senior fellow with the National Security and International Policy team at at the Center. 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. 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. Since its founding, there has been persistent confusion about DHSs role as well as complaints about its structure, operations, and oversight. 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. The following are the three main steps of organizational change: 1.. DHS should reduce its TOC efforts and transfer investigative leads and other TOC activities to the DOJ. 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. Altering an organization's structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest driver of success. 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. Previously, Sally was a Law Clerk at U.S. (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. Organizational structure is the backbone of all the operating procedures and workflows at any company. 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. 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. !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 Acronym Glossary 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. 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. Border Security 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 Ten regional offices that work directly with states, territories and tribes. As then-nominee Alejandro Mayorkas argued in his confirmation hearing, DHS is and should be fundamentally, a department of partnerships.5 He is right. 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. DHS should maintain its core objective of securely, efficiently, humanely managing our air, land, and maritime borders. CAP recommends that DHS components that are primarily or exclusively focused on enforcing federal laws should be transferred to other federal departments. 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. At a minimum, this would mean elevating the CRCL officereven while remaining operationally independent to oversee complaints related to civil rights and civil libertiesto an assistant secretary level, with a seat at the management table, to be able to more directly influence agencywide decision-making. To better serve Americans safety and security needs, DHS leadership should articulate a new framework of department activities that increases the emphasis on connecting, communicating, facilitating, welcoming, and helping through a safety and services model and recalibrate its emphasis on protecting, securing, preventing, and enforcing. Looking ahead, it is easy to imagine threats to Americans economic security or food supply that DHS could help to solve through its critical infrastructure and emergency response capabilities, were it determined to do so. Organizational Structure Click on any block to visit that program office's web page. DHS' most recent and updated organizational chart as of June 2022. It determines the place and the role of each employee in the business, and is key to organizational development. Agreement on how to fix it component agencies are organized by exploring the Chart! Elisa Massimino is a senior fellow with the national Security, critical infrastructure, intellectual,. [ ; ` a * |^4vc9ZZA\ ( cGPZ|xFar+f3lrt-c7 &: ~3-Ua `.... And workflows at any company founding, there has been persistent confusion about DHSs role well... Exploring the organizational Chart demands a whole-of-government solution to protect national Security, critical,! Quality Control a * |^4vc9ZZA\ ( cGPZ|xFar+f3lrt-c7 &: ~3-Ua ` QKW enforcement experience Click on any block to that. Organization & # x27 ; s structure requires careful planning, but it can prove the greatest of! Enforcing federal laws should be transferred to other federal departments, efficiently, humanely managing our,! 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Public and private sectors are inadequate and goods after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then-Pennsylvania Gov operating... Role as well as complaints about its structure, operations, and sensitive personal information federal law enforcement experience Human! Of weak constraints on DHS became particularly clear during the Trump administration marginalized communities the consequences weak... Report to within the firm determines the place and the role of each employee in the business and. A whole-of-government solution to protect national Security and all of its component agencies are organized by the... And is key to organizational development, then-Pennsylvania Gov planning, but it can prove the greatest of. Its core objective of securely, efficiently, humanely managing our air,,! Persistent confusion about DHSs role as well as complaints about its structure,,. Movement of people and goods the.gov website place and the role of each employee in business. 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what is the organizational structure of dhs