United States Department of Homeland Security facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
United States Department of Homeland Security

Seal of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Flag of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Headquarters of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington D.C.
Agency overview
Formed	November 25, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-11-25)
Jurisdiction	U.S. federal government
Headquarters	St. Elizabeths West Campus, Washington, D.C., U.S. 38°51′17″N 77°00′00″W / 38.8547°N 77.0000°W / 38.8547; -77.0000
Employees	240,000 (2018)
Annual budget	$51.672 billion (FY 2020)
Agency executives	Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary Kristie Canegallo, Acting Deputy Secretary
Child agency	Full list United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Customs and Border Protection Federal Emergency Management Agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement Transportation Security Administration United States Coast Guard (during times of peace) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency United States Secret Service Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Federal Protective Service Citizenship & Immigration Services Ombudsmen Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Management Directorate Office for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Office of General Counsel Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman Office of Intelligence & Analysis Office of Legislative Affairs Office of Situational Awareness Office of Partnership & Engagement Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans Office of Public Affairs Office of the Inspector General Privacy Office Science & Technology Directorate
"The DHS March"

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.

It began operations on March 1, 2003, after being formed as a result of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, enacted in response to the September 11 attacks. With more than 240,000 employees, DHS is the third-largest Cabinet department, after the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Homeland security policy is coordinated at the White House by the Homeland Security Council. Other agencies with significant homeland security responsibilities include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Energy.

History

Creation

In response to the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush announced the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) to coordinate "homeland security" efforts. The office was headed by former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, who assumed the title of Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. The official announcement states:

The mission of the Office will be to develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks. The Office will coordinate the executive branch's efforts to detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States.

Ridge began his duties as OHS director on October 8, 2001. On November 25, 2002, the Homeland Security Act established the Department of Homeland Security to consolidate U.S. executive branch organizations related to "homeland security" into a single Cabinet agency. The Gilmore Commission, supported by much of Congress and John Bolton, helped further solidify need for the department. The DHS incorporated the following 22 agencies.

List of incorporated agencies

According to political scientist Peter Andreas, the creation of DHS constituted the most significant government reorganization since the Cold War and the most substantial reorganization of federal agencies since the National Security Act of 1947 (which had placed the different military departments under a secretary of defense and created the National Security Council and Central Intelligence Agency). DHS constitutes the most diverse merger of federal functions and responsibilities, incorporating 22 government agencies into a single organization. The founding of the DHS marked a change in American thought towards threats. Introducing the term "homeland" centers attention on a population that needs to be protected not only against emergencies such as natural disasters but also against diffuse threats from individuals who are non-native to the United States.

Prior to the signing of the bill, controversy about its adoption was focused on whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency should be incorporated in part or in whole (neither were included). The bill was also controversial for the presence of unrelated "riders", as well as for eliminating certain union-friendly civil service and labor protections for department employees. Without these protections, employees could be expeditiously reassigned or dismissed on grounds of security, incompetence or insubordination, and DHS would not be required to notify their union representatives. The plan stripped 180,000 government employees of their union rights. In 2002, Bush officials argued that the September 11 attacks made the proposed elimination of employee protections imperative.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer addresses Vice President Dick Cheney (center); Saxby Chambliss (center right), a U.S. Senator from Georgia; and Michael Chertoff (far right), the second head of the DHS; in 2005

Congress ultimately passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and President Bush signed the bill into law on November 25, 2002. It was the largest U.S. government reorganization in the 50 years since the United States Department of Defense was created.

Tom Ridge was named secretary on January 24, 2003, and began naming his chief deputies. DHS officially began operations on January 24, 2003, but most of the department's component agencies were not transferred into the new department until March 1.

President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2004 on October 1, 2003.

After establishing the basic structure of DHS and working to integrate its components, Ridge announced his resignation on November 30, 2004, following the re-election of President Bush. Bush initially nominated former New York City Police Department commissioner Bernard Kerik as his successor, but on December 10, Kerik withdrew his nomination, citing personal reasons and saying it "would not be in the best interests" of the country for him to pursue the post.

Changes under Secretary Chertoff

On January 11, 2005, President Bush nominated federal judge Michael Chertoff to succeed Ridge. Chertoff was confirmed on February 15, 2005, by a vote of 98–0 in the U.S. Senate and was sworn in the same day.

In February 2005, DHS and the Office of Personnel Management issued rules relating to employee pay and discipline for a new personnel system named MaxHR. The Washington Post said that the rules would allow DHS "to override any provision in a union contract by issuing a department-wide directive" and would make it "difficult, if not impossible, for unions to negotiate over arrangements for staffing, deployments, technology and other workplace matters". In August 2005, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer blocked the plan on the grounds that it did not ensure collective-bargaining rights for DHS employees. A federal appeals court ruled against DHS in 2006; pending a final resolution to the litigation, Congress's fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill for DHS provided no funding for the proposed new personnel system. DHS announced in early 2007 that it was retooling its pay and performance system and retiring the name "MaxHR". In a February 2008 court filing, DHS said that it would no longer pursue the new rules, and that it would abide by the existing civil service labor-management procedures. A federal court issued an order closing the case.

Trump administration

On November 16, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018 into law, which elevated the mission of the former DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate and established the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. In fiscal year 2018, DHS was allocated a net discretionary budget of $47.716 billion.

Biden administration

In 2021, the Department of Justice began carrying out an investigation into white supremacy and extremism in the DHS ranks.

DHS also halted large-scale immigration raids at job sites, saying in October 2021 that the administration was planning "a new enforcement strategy to more effectively target employers who pay substandard wages and engage in exploitative labor practices."

Function

U.S. CBP Office of Field Operations officer checking the authenticity of a travel document at an international airport using a stereo microscope

CBP officers going aboard a ship

Whereas the Department of Defense is charged with military actions abroad, the Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the United States within, at, and outside its borders. Its stated goal is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism. On March 1, 2003, DHS absorbed the U.S. Customs Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and assumed its duties. In doing so, it divided the enforcement and services functions into two separate and new agencies: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services. The investigative divisions and intelligence gathering units of the INS and Customs Service were merged forming Homeland Security Investigations, the primary investigative arm of DHS. Additionally, the border enforcement functions of the INS, including the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were consolidated into a new agency under DHS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Federal Protective Service falls under the National Protection and Programs Directorate.

Structure

Organizational chart of the Department of Homeland Security, as of October 6, 2023.

July 17, 2008 organizational structure.

The Department of Homeland Security is headed by the Secretary of Homeland Security with the assistance of the Deputy Secretary. The department contains the components listed below.

List of subordinate agencies

Agencies

• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services: Processes and examines citizenship, residency, and asylum requests from aliens.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Law enforcement agency that enforces U.S. laws along its international borders (air, land, and sea) including its enforcement of U.S. immigration, customs, and agriculture laws while at and patrolling between all U.S. ports-of-entry.
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Law enforcement agency divided into two bureaus:

1. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigates violations of more than 400 U.S. laws and gathers intelligence on national and international criminal activities that threaten the security of the homeland (Homeland Security Investigations); and
2. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) enforces administrative violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act by detaining, deporting, and removing violators of United States immigration law.

• Transportation Security Administration: Responsible for aviation security (domestic and international, most notably conducting passenger screenings at airports), as well as land and water transportation security
• United States Coast Guard: Military service responsible for law enforcement, maritime security, national defense, maritime mobility, and protection of natural resources.
• United States Secret Service: Law enforcement agency tasked with two distinct and critical national security missions:

1. Investigative Mission – The investigative mission of the USSS is to safeguard the payment and financial systems of the United States from a wide range of financial and electronic-based crimes.
2. Protective Mission – The protective mission of the USSS is to ensure the safety of the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, their immediate families, and foreign heads of state.

• Federal Emergency Management Agency: agency that oversees the federal government's response to natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, forest fires.

Passports for U.S. citizens are issued by the U.S. Department of State, not the Department of Homeland Security.

Advisory groups:

• Homeland Security Advisory Council: State and local government, first responders, private sector, and academics
• National Infrastructure Advisory Council: Advises on security of public and private information systems
• Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee: Advise the Under Secretary for Science and Technology.
• Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council: Coordinate infrastructure protection with private sector and other levels of government
• Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities
• Task Force on New Americans: "An inter-agency effort to help immigrants learn English, embrace the common core of American civic culture, and become fully American."

Other components:

• Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office: Counter attempts by terrorists or other threat actors to carry out an attack against the United States or its interests using a weapon of mass destruction. Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen established the CWMD Office in December 2017 by consolidating primarily the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and a majority of the Office of Health Affairs, as well as other DHS elements.
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers: Interagency law enforcement training facilities located in Georgia, New Mexico, and South Carolina.
• National Protection and Programs Directorate: risk-reduction, encompassing both physical and virtual threats and their associated human elements.
  • Federal Protective Service: Federal law enforcement and security agency that protects and investigates crimes against U.S. federal buildings, properties, assets, and federal government interests.
  • National Communications System
• Directorate for Science and Technology: Research and development
  • Command, Control and Interoperability Division: Responsible for developing systems for strengthening interoperability between different government divisions.
• Directorate for Management: Responsible for internal budgets, accounting, performance monitoring, and human resources
• Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans: Long-range policy planning and coordination
  • Office of Immigration Statistics
• Office of Intelligence and Analysis: Identify and assess threats based on intelligence from various agencies
• Office of Operations Coordination: Monitor domestic security situation on a daily basis, coordinate activities with state and local authorities and private sector infrastructure
• Office of the Secretary includes the Privacy Office, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Office of Inspector General, Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, Office of Legislative Affairs, Office of the General Counsel, Office of Public Affairs, Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement (CNE), Office of the Executive Secretariat (ESEC), and the Military Advisor's Office.
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

In an August 5, 2002, speech, President Bush said: "We are fighting ... to secure freedom in the homeland." Prior to the creation of DHS, U.S. Presidents had referred to the U.S. as "the nation" or "the republic" and to its internal policies as "domestic". Also unprecedented was the use, from 2002, of the phrase "the homeland" by White House spokespeople.

National Terrorism Advisory System

In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security phased out the old Homeland Security Advisory System, replacing it with a two-level National Terrorism Advisory System. The system has two types of advisories: alerts and bulletins. NTAS bulletins permit the secretary to communicate critical terrorism information that, while not necessarily indicative of a specific threat against the United States, can reach homeland security partners or the public quickly, thereby allowing recipients to implement necessary protective measures. Alerts are issued when there is specific and credible information of a terrorist threat against the United States. Alerts have two levels: elevated and imminent. An elevated alert is issued when there is credible information about an attack but only general information about timing or a target. An Imminent Alert is issued when the threat is very specific and impending in the very near term.

The Homeland Security Advisory System scale

On March 12, 2002, the Homeland Security Advisory System, a color-coded terrorism risk advisory scale, was created as the result of a Presidential Directive to provide a "comprehensive and effective means to disseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to Federal, State, and local authorities and to the American people". Many procedures at government facilities are tied into the alert level; for example a facility may search all entering vehicles when the alert is above a certain level. Since January 2003, it has been administered in coordination with DHS; it has also been the target of frequent jokes and ridicule on the part of the administration's detractors about its ineffectiveness. After resigning, Tom Ridge said he did not always agree with the threat level adjustments pushed by other government agencies.

In January 2003, the office was merged into the Department of Homeland Security and the White House Homeland Security Council, both of which were created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Homeland Security Council, similar in nature to the National Security Council, retains a policy coordination and advisory role and is led by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.

Seal

The seal was developed with input from senior DHS leadership, employees, and the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts. The Ad Council – which partners with DHS on its Ready.gov campaign – and the consulting company Landor Associates were responsible for graphic design and maintaining heraldic integrity.

The seal is symbolic of the Department's mission – to prevent attacks and protect Americans – on the land, in the sea and in the air. In the center of the seal, a graphically styled white American eagle appears in a circular blue field. The eagle's outstretched wings break through an inner red ring into an outer white ring that contains the words "U.S. DEPARTMENT OF" in the top half and "HOMELAND SECURITY" in the bottom half in a circular placement. The eagle's wings break through the inner circle into the outer ring to suggest that the Department of Homeland Security will break through traditional bureaucracy and perform government functions differently. In the tradition of the Great Seal of the United States, the eagle's talon on the left holds an olive branch with 13 leaves and 13 seeds while the eagle's talon on the right grasps 13 arrows.

Centered on the eagle's breast is a shield divided into three sections containing elements that represent the American homeland – air, land, and sea. The top element, a dark blue sky, contains 22 stars representing the original 22 entities that have come together to form the department. The left shield element contains white mountains behind a green plain underneath a light blue sky. The right shield element contains four wave shapes representing the oceans alternating light and dark blue separated by white lines.

- DHS June 6, 2003

Headquarters

The current headquarters at St. Elizabeths West Campus

Nebraska Avenue Complex, DHS headquarters from its inception until April 2019

Since its inception, the department's temporary headquarters had been in Washington, D.C.'s Nebraska Avenue Complex, a former naval facility. The 38-acre (15 ha) site, across from American University, has 32 buildings comprising 566,000 square feet (52,600 m²) of administrative space. In early 2007, the department submitted a $4.1 billion plan to Congress to consolidate its 60-plus Washington-area offices into a single headquarters complex at the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Anacostia, Southeast Washington, D.C.

The move was championed by District of Columbia officials because of the positive economic impact it would have on historically depressed Anacostia. The move was criticized by historic preservationists, who claimed the revitalization plans would destroy dozens of historic buildings on the campus. Community activists criticized the plans because the facility would remain walled off and have little interaction with the surrounding area.

In February 2015 the General Services Administration said that the site would open in 2021. DHS headquarters staff began moving to St. Elizabeths in April 2019 after the completion of the Center Building renovation.

Cyber-security

The DHS National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) is responsible for the response system, risk management program, and requirements for cyber-security in the U.S. The division is home to US-CERT operations and the National Cyber Alert System. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate helps government and private end-users transition to new cyber-security capabilities. This directorate also funds the Cyber Security Research and Development Center, which identifies and prioritizes research and development for NCSD. The center works on the Internet's routing infrastructure (the SPRI program) and Domain Name System (DNSSEC), identity theft and other online criminal activity (ITTC), Internet traffic and networks research (PREDICT datasets and the DETER testbed), Department of Defense and HSARPA exercises (Livewire and Determined Promise), and wireless security in cooperation with Canada.

On October 30, 2009, DHS opened the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. The center brings together government organizations responsible for protecting computer networks and networked infrastructure.

In January 2017, DHS officially designated state-run election systems as critical infrastructure. The designation made it easier for state and local election officials to get cybersecurity help from the federal government. In October 2017, DHS convened a Government Coordinating Council (GCC) for the Election Infrastructure Subsection with representatives from various state and federal agencies such as the Election Assistance Commission and National Association of Secretaries of State.

See also

In Spanish: Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos para niños

• Container Security Initiative
• E-Verify
• Electronic System for Travel Authorization
• Emergency Management Institute
• History of homeland security in the United States
• Homeland Security USA
• Homeland security grant
• Home Office, equivalent department in the United Kingdom
• List of state departments of homeland security
• National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC), Ft Detrick, MD
• National Interoperability Field Operations Guide
• National Strategy for Homeland Security
• Project Hostile Intent
• Public Safety Canada, equivalent department in Canada
• Shadow Wolves
• Terrorism in the United States
• United States visas