Department of Homeland Security
The responsibility of an immigration department lies in the ability to protect the country from illegal entry of weapons, contraband goods, drugs, and even people. However, the department has to maintain continuous legal trade and maintain the sovereignty of the country in all dealings. The Department of Homeland Security has been tasked with ensuring the security of borders while keeping international relations healthy. Tension has been developing in previous years near the borders with cases of illegal trade and immigration being reported. The insecurity in the borders has been leading to concerns over the internal security of the citizens. In a bid to improve the security of the citizens and the country in general, the Department of Homeland Security has been keen to answer to the rising concerns over the security level in the borders and especially the Mexican border that has been allowing an alarming number of illegal immigrants.
The ascension of President Donald Trump to power has seen several reforms in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Originally, DHS was working as an agency purely mandated to deal with counter-terrorism but has recently been transformed to incorporate immigration and border security (Gaines & Kappeler, 2019). America is currently facing security challenges due to the immigration menace that has been caused by the absence of concrete policies and agencies to tackle the immigration problem. The roles of various officials in DHS have also changed with the current government preferring giving more attention to border security to dealing with terrorism. Most employees in DHS have been sacked in the recent years with the government saying that individuals are required to adjust fast to the needs of strong border security since the government puts the interests of the Americans first. One of the most recent sackings is that of Nielsen was sacked after attending cybersecurity and counter-terrorism summit in London. Trump appeared dissatisfied with Nielsen’s efforts and termed as putting insufficient efforts towards ensuring border crossings were dealt with. The current leadership has made a clear gesture that DHS should make the maintenance of border security and management of illegal immigration, the primary missions.
The strategic position of the DHS headquarters has been symbolic in showing the role of the agency as a protector of the Americans. However, the state of events in the US shows that the newest threat to the people of America is the influx of illegal immigrants who bring along illegal weapons, drugs, and contraband goods. The current shake-up in the employees has been associated with the government’s strategy of having an entirely new DHS that does not leave room for the original mentality of fighting terrorism. The current mission by DHS could have more fruitful outcomes than the original mission since secure borders could ensure that terrorists do not access the US through porous borders. When international terrorists are taken care of, the relevant agencies could then be left to deal with the domestic terrorists who might not require much attention as compared to international terrorists. However, the responsibilities of DHS have not changed with the change in governments, but responsibility priorities have been shifting with the entry of new governments.
The protection of American people involves the protection of the borders and other entry points to the US. DHS is responsible for the safety in the northern border, the southern border, the air as well as the seaports (Howard et al. 2019). The deportation and apprehension of illegal immigrants have been the order of each day for DHS with security being strengthened significantly. The southwest border has been of key concern because of the cases of drug smuggling and weaponry trade, which has also fueled criminal activities in Mexico. The improved strategies have also seen DHS being able to prevent several outsiders from crossing the border illegally into the US. Also, DHS has been working closely with immigration agents to avoid cases of illegal aliens as well as taking legal actions against employers who help in illegal migration. Several employers have been on the spot for employing illegal immigrants and have been subjected to legal actions upon realization. DHS has managed to engage several employers and setting the standards for maintaining a legal workforce to discourage immigrants from entering the US in search of employment. DHS has been receiving praise for the new strategy that promises a bright future towards dealing with the immigration menace. Move by the DHS to work closely with the immigration department has been accepted since it appears to be touching the root cause of illegal immigration, and thus, the problem might soon be put to the past. DHS has, however, not been working without challenges.
The Department of Homeland Security has been meeting several challenges in the journey towards meeting its primary objective. Several employees received the change of DHS primary mission from counterterrorism to border protection and immigration management in shock. The employees who took long before adjusting to the proposed changes by the government were shown the door with the government expecting nothing less than a nation with closed borders and good international trade. DHS has been on the spot by critics who believe that the department is not doing enough to guarantee the Americans security and protection from border leakages. For example, DHS has been requested to foster its partnerships as well as effective sharing of information to enhance the effectiveness of its activities. The relationship between DHS and several private sectors has been on the rocks for several years, especially where sharing of information is required in dealing with cyber-related crimes (Perlroth, 2017). Also, the formation of DHS involved the combination of over 20 agencies into one department, and challenges of delay and poor information have been witnessed over time. The results of delay have been the increase in costs of operation, and severe cases functionality of the department has been affected. Despite the several challenges, however, DHS has managed to coordinate its operations and has so far been receive positive credit from the citizens.
In sum, the Department of Homeland Security has been recently tasked with ensuring the security of borders while keeping international relations healthy. The original primary goal of DHS has been on counterterrorism, but the government has lately given border security and immigration a higher priority. DHS is looked upon by the Americans for protection and has been receiving a lot of attention from the government. On top of the tasks given to DHS, challenges have been many but DHS has managed to stand firm and the fruits of the department’s functions are already visible.
References
Gaines, L. K., & Kappeler, V. E. (2019). Homeland Security and Terrorism. Pearson.
Howard, J. J., Blanchard, A. J., Sirotin, Y. B., Hasselgren, J. A., & Vemury, A. R. (2019, April). An investigation of high-throughput biometric systems: Results of the 2018 department of homeland security biometric technology rally. In 2018 IEEE 9th International Conference on Biometrics Theory, Applications and Systems (BTAS) (pp. 1-7). IEEE.
Perlroth, N. (2017). Hackers are targeting nuclear facilities, Homeland Security Dept. and FBI say. The New York Times.