Running head: DHS GAP ANALYSIS

Department Of Homeland Security Gap Analysis Kevin Lindbeck MSA570 Homeland Security Defense & Administration August 15, 2013 William Howard Southwestern College Professional Studies

DHS GAP ANALYSIS Abstract

The Department of Homeland Security was established to provide the United States with a fluid, robust and quick acting agency that could traverse a rapidly changing global system of terrorists and terrorist states that not only seek to undermine the United States and its way of life, but other democracys around the globe as well. The Department of Homeland Security was envisioned as being a hub and a director of critical information and intelligence that could and would be available at the lowest levels of both federal and state government. The Department of Homeland Security has grown tremendously and rapidly since its inception in 2001, taking on additional roles and responsibilities, to include the additional primary mission of Enforce & Administer our Immigration Laws. It is this additional primary mission that we will look at more closely to determine if they are in fact performing this duty and how effective they are in the course of performing this duty through gap-analysis.

DHS GAP ANALYSIS Introduction

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, President George W. Bush established the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) and appointed Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge to the position of Assistant to the President for Homeland Security through the use of Executive Order 13228 (Bush, 2002). President Bush issued several more Executive Orders that pertain to Homeland Security over the course of his presidency; Executive Order 13260 establishing the Presidents Homeland Security Advisory Council, Executive Order 13267 establishing a Transition Planning Office for the Department of Homeland Security Within the Office of Management and Budget, and Executive Order 13362 Designation of Additional Officers for the Department of Homeland Security Order of Succession (Bush, 2009). Initially, there were four primary responsibilities that the Department of Homeland Security with four proposed divisions in the department, was charged with: Border and Transportation Security - Control the borders and prevent terrorists and explosives from entering the country Emergency Preparedness and Response - Work with state and local authorities to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures - Bring together the countrys best scientists to develop technologies that detect biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons to best protect citizens Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection - Review intelligence and law enforcement information from all agencies of government, and produce a single daily picture of threats against the homeland

DHS GAP ANALYSIS In July 2002, the White House released the first National Strategy for Homeland Security.

Developed by the Office of Homeland Security, the National Strategy identified three objectives: Prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; Reduce Americas vulnerability to terrorism; and Minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur (Borja, 2008) On June 24, 2002, Representative Dick Armey (R-TX) introduced the Presidents proposed legislation for the Department to the House of Representatives as H.R. 5005. After amendments in Committee, the bill passed the House by recorded vote (295 to 132) on July 26, 2002. The Senate passed the bill with amendments on November 19, 2002, by a vote of 90 to 9 (Borja, 2008). President Bush signed the Homeland Security Act into law on 25 November 2002. President Barrack Obama added an additional primary responsibility to the Department of Homeland Security; Enforce & Administer our Immigration Laws - Fundamentally reform immigration enforcement, prioritizing the identification and removal of criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety and targeting employers who knowingly and repeatedly break the law. It is this fifth primary responsibility the Department of Homeland Security, Enforce & Administer our Immigration Laws, is charged with that a gap-analysis will be conducted on. Make a Run for the Border There is over 5,500 miles of border between the United States and Canada and another almost 2,000 miles of border between the United States and Mexico, collectively that is around 7,500 precious miles of border that needs to be protected, monitored, surveyed, maintained and crossed on a daily basis (NumbersUSA, 2013). The United States borders not only delineate the

DHS GAP ANALYSIS United States from both Canada and Mexico, but the set a protective and judicial boundary between both of our northern and southern neighbors that informs them they are about to enter the American nation where they are expected to follow United States laws while they are visiting. To make sure the American public is safe from these visiting guests, the United States employs some 20,000 border agents to perform this task on a daily basis; 24/7 365 days a year (Batalova & Terrazas, 2010). Although the majority of Canadian and Mexican citizens legally entering the United States do so with the intent on visiting, shopping, and or working, there is a small, nefarious

element out there that seeks to smuggle drugs, contraband, people and themselves into the United States, illegally. It is the later component that the United States must be constantly vigilant of, as this criminal medium only carries with it misfortune, devastation and detriment to the American way of life. From the coyotes or polleros that attempt to smuggle in more than 100,000 children each year to the drug traffickers that try to illegally import more than 1,500,000 kilograms of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy) and methamphetamines a year (Uehling, 2008). There are also those who constantly attempt to illegally gain entrance into the United States and either caught crossing the border or caught after they have already traversed the border and are apprehended through other means such as breaking the law or other types of violations. These are the people that are not only hemorrhaging the American taxpayer through needless resources that have to be expensed due to their illicit activities such as law enforcement investigations, jail housing, and court costs and eventually deportation costs, but also through the use of medical facilities that cannot legally deny anyone medical treatment. While this plight on American society is but only a very small segment of a population, it is still very taxing on an

DHS GAP ANALYSIS already stressed system, such as it is. Many of these illegal immigrants are repeat offenders, not only with crossing illegally into the United States, but repeat offenders with the American judicial system where there appears to be a revolving door within the halls of justice. For the most seasoned illegal, the American judicial system is not only a joke, but it delivers nothing in the form of serious or substantial punishment to the offenders. It is merely a game of cat and

mouse between law enforcement, border patrol and the illegals; ultimately just catch and release. It is United States law enforcement and border patrol that are being continually demoralized on a daily basis, as they see first-hand, capturing and arresting the same individuals over and over again. Where is the reprieve for these hard working individuals who see the fruits of their labors thrown on the floor and stepped on repeatedly? Why make the effort when it appears they are only acting in futility as the American courts seem to just release these illegal offenders back on to the American streets to continue to live off of the American tit, to do as they please. Are there not American laws that prohibit such actions of these courts, where is the checks and balances of the American judicial system? Why is the American government letting this happen, especially in such an economically depressed time in American society? What happen to the Department of Homeland Securitys primary mission of Enforce & Administer our Immigration Laws? Did You Hear The News? In order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detention population under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding. As a result of this review, a number of detained aliens have been released around the country and placed on an appropriate, more cost-

DHS GAP ANALYSIS effective form of supervised release (Shapiro, 2013). This was the excuse the Obama Administration told Americans in hopes of both scaring the American public and potentially creating outrage between the American public and law makers on Capitol Hill, all under the

guise of sequestration. As Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) summed it up, These illegal immigrants will likely disappear from the law enforcement map. This is Barack Obamas way of blackmailing the American people into supporting his calls for tax increases. It defies logic to think ICE would choose to release thousands of illegal aliens and fugitives in federal detention from custody and willingly undercut the rule of law and endanger the American public, because of a 5.3 percent reduction in ICEs operating budget (Shapiro, 2013). This was pure wanton recklessness on the part of Obama Administration, who had months to develop numerous alternatives that would have better and safer results, but again stuck with the most divisive choice possible and went full-court press with it. These types of actions from the Obama Administration run counter to what the Department of Homeland Security is charged with, which is to protect the American public 24/7 365 days a year, not just when it is convenient or when there are no budget cuts or reductions. In simple terms, both the Obama Administration and the Department of Homeland Security have not only failed the American publics trust, but failed the American publics safety by putting politics in front of policy. In another glaring example of failure of the Department of Homeland Security to uphold one of their primary missions; enforce & administer our immigration laws. There is this: In July 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dramatically altered the notorious 287(g) program, a program that cultivates partnerships between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement. Billed as an effort to standardize immigration enforcement while focusing efforts upon priority aliens, the policy shift

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instead managed to subvert the drafters intent, undermine local and federal enforcement goals, whittle the once broad and flexible 287(g) program down to impotent redundancy, and foster an environment that compels states and communities to take immigration enforcement into their own hands. (Michaud, 2010) The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) created what is now known as the 287(g) program, a federal program that allows local law enforcement agencies to partner with ICE in order to perform specific duties of federal immigration officers. In the past, these partnerships authorized local law enforcement personnel to investigate and detain individuals suspected of violating specific provisions of federal immigration law, facilitating their transfer to ICE facilities and the initiation of deportation proceedings (Michaud, 2010). However, the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration bowed to critics of this program and issued in July 2009 a set of policy changes that significantly altered the nature of the 287(g) program (Michaud, 2010). These changes do nothing to amalgamate immigration enforcement schemes and unquestionably do nothing to enhance immigration enforcement efforts in any way, shape or form. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration have achieved quite the opposite. They have managed to subvert congressional intent, undermine local and federal goals for immigration enforcement, whittle the once broad and flexible 287(g) program down to impotent redundancy, and foster an environment that encourages states and localities to not only take immigration enforcement into their own hands via state and local laws and regulations, but to do so in a manner that rejects the prioritized enforcement scheme that the Administration had attempted to uniformly impose. (Michaud, 2010)

DHS GAP ANALYSIS By both the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration picking and choosing what laws and policies they will or will not enforce leaves border states such as Arizona at a loss of federal support from enforcing federal laws, which also creates an enforcement vacuum, to say the least. Why the Change in Course? In an announcement from the Department of Homeland Security Press Release dated April 1, 2009, it stated the Department of Homeland Security was directing more than $400 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to the Southwest border states, which includes $269 million for port and infrastructure projects in Otay Mesa, Antelope Wells, N.M., Los Ebanos, Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Nogales, Arizona. Another $42 million will go toward Non-Intrusive Inspection Equipment at Southwest border ports of entry,

including both low energy and large-scale systems, which are big enough to scan tractor-trailers. In another announcement from the Department of Homeland Security Press Release dated June 4, 2009, Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced Operation Stonegarden grants, which totaled $60 million for 13 border states and the Territory of Puerto Rico to enhance the capabilities of federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to jointly secure U.S. borders and territories. She was quoted as saying, Operation Stonegarden grants direct critical funding to state, local and tribal law enforcement operations across the country... to ensure that our first responders are equipped with the resources they need to confront the complex and dynamic challenges that exist along our borders. And in yet another announcement from the Department of Homeland Security Press Release dated June 15, 2009 Secretary Janet Napolitano stated In the past several months, the Obama administration has announced a very strong series

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of initiatives to strengthen our partnership with Mexico to combat the threats we both face in the trafficking of drugs and weapons, cash and other contraband. I have personally traveled to Mexico twice to advance our common agenda. With the myriad of announcements from the Department of Homeland Security touting interest in securing United States borders from drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, human smuggling and other illegal activity, why has both the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration appear to have gone out of their way to reverse this course through policy changes and selective enforcement? It seems at a time when the United States is experiencing such economic downturns and future and financial uncertainty; the border would be even more restrictive in an effort to thwart anything that could possibly add to American woes. At what point in time did both of these entities decide that America is not worth the effort of securing from both the criminal and terrorist elements along with turning a blind-eye from the plight of illegal immigrants already residing with the United States borders? Why does it give the impression to the American public that their safety is no longer a concern of the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration when it chooses to release illegal aliens and fugitives in federal detention instead of electing to find alternative solutions that do not have the possibility of harming the American public? Conclusion With the election of Barack Obama in November of 2008, many Americans felt there was a new wind blowing through the American landscape that American was somehow casting off the chains of an old and tired Republic that was lost in old traditions and old values. That by electing Barack Obama, America was in some way showing the world it was not just some monolithic society deciding the worlds fate whenever there was a crisis at home or abroad. That

DHS GAP ANALYSIS by taking a chance on a relative unknown community organizer turned state senator, America

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was showing the world that it was not electing cookie-cutter Presidents and this time America was thinking outside the box. The American public itself felt that electing Barack Obama would somehow make Americans themselves feel better by giving this man a chance to do something big; bringing hope and change to not only the American people and the American landscape, but to the entire globe. That in some way America had dropped down on the worlds public opinion scale from the decisions and actions of previous administrations and by electing Barack Obama, the United States would move up the leader board. After five years of the Obama Administration running the country, it seems that hope and change the American public was promised has extinguished like a light in the window of American that has exhausted all of its energy. The Obama Administration and most of the agencies that fall under its administration such as the Department of Homeland Security have set about in haphazardly fashion in an attempt to perform their sworn duties to the American people with blatant disregard to safety or security. What makes an administration place the very people they are charged with to protect, placed in harms way? It seems that politics and public polls, as usual, appears to be the single, steady force that guides both Obama Administration and Department of Homeland Security in every decision they make, instead of doing what is best for the United States and the American people in the first place.

DHS GAP ANALYSIS References

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Bush, G. W. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/proposal-create-department-homelandsecurity Bush, G. W. (2009). Retrieved from http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/orders/ Borja, E. C. (2008). Retrieved from https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=37027 NumbersUSA (2013). Retrieved from https://www.numbersusa.com/content/learn/illegalimmigration/international-borders-united-states-and-.html Batalova, J., & Terrazas, A. (2010, December). Us in focus: frequently requested statistics on immigrants and immigration in the united states. Retrieved from http://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=818 Michaud, N. D. (2010). From 287(G) To Sb 1070:The Decline Of The Federal Immigration Partnership And The Rise Of State-Level Immigration Enforcement. Arizona Law Review, 52(4), 1083-1133. Uehling, G. L. (2008). The International Smuggling of Children: Coyotes, Snakeheads, and the Politics of Compassion. Anthropological Quarterly, 81(4), 833-871. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.sckans.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/216476652?acco untid=13979