Different departments of the federal agencies in the United States were unified to create the Homeland Security department. Creating this Department aimed to make America more secure and ensure that its citizens were safe (Oliver et al., 2019). Developing a coordinated national strategy to protect America from threats and attacks from terrorists was its main mission. The Department began its mission in 2003 after it was created in 2002.
The death of 2,977 American citizens after the attack of 9/11 led to the need to create this Department. One of the primary reasons for creating this Department was the lack of good flow of information and coordination among the government agencies. According to the Homeland Security website, Office of Homeland Security was Pennsylvania Governor was the first director of that department. Gorge Bush appointed Tom Ridge as the Office of Homeland Security’s first director (Oliver et al., 2019). This Department was created under section 101 of the law of the Homeland Security Act back on November 25, 2002. Preventing terrorist attacks in America and preparing for the future attacks of terrorists was their main task. OHS was proposed on September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attack. It was established within the Office of the President (the executive).
The focus of this Department has again changed to immigration policies from dealing with terrorists over the years. Recently Homeland Security listed their priority as a government department (Oliver et al., 2019). According to their website, they stated that their work is to secure the national borders and enforce the laws of immigration. The government has over 240,000 employees and is considered the third-largest government cabinet department of defense. Due to the denial of salary rise and lack of promotion at the workplace, the employee recently showed that they are greatly dissatisfied. The DHS has faced charges in the court between 2015 and 2020; they have been accused of wasting resources and carrying out unethical mining of data.
There is a lot of the managerial body which Homeland Security Department is made of. The operational and support components list includes U.S citizenship and the immigration Services (USCIS). The work of this body is to safeguard the integrity and the promise of the Department. They ensure that they fairly adjudicate for the benefits of the immigrations and protect the citizens, provide security at their homelands, and ensure that their values are honored. Another operational and support component of DHS is United States Coast Guard (USCG). It is among the armed five forces of the U.S, and it’s the only military organization within DHS. Their work is to protect the maritime economy and its environs. They also defend the maritime borders and save those who are in peril. Office of Operations Coordination is responsible for providing information to the homeland security secretary, senior leaders, and the security enterprise of the homeland security to help them make decisions (Oliver et al., 2019). Other important bodies include; Office of intelligence and analysis, science and technology doctorates, a counter weapon of mass destruction office, transport security administration
The role of the departments in DHS was to ensure that the presidential management of program administration by the new departments was strengthened. They also ensured that the collaborative programs were emphasized to the nation. The occurrence of the departmentalization was because of the change that was regarded as beneficial to the president and national prestige proximity by some of the relevant interest groups that help in managing and running the Department of Homeland Security.
Reference
Oliver, W. M., Marion, N. E., & Hill, J. B. (2019). Introduction to homeland security: Policy, organization, and administration. Jones & Bartlett Learning.