Department of Homeland Security: Difference between revisions

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}

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,<ref name="dhs.gov">{{cite web|title=About DHS|url=https://www.dhs.gov/about-dhs|publisher=Homeland Security|date=June 29, 2016}}</ref> DHS is the third-largest [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]] department, after the departments of [[United States Department of Defense|Defense]] and [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Affairs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.napawash.org/pc_management_studies/dhs.html |title=Department of Homeland Security Executive Staffing Project |publisher=[[National Academy of Public Administration (United States)|National Academy of Public Administration]] |access-date=May 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100310171217/http://www.napawash.org/pc_management_studies/dhs.html |archive-date=March 10, 2010 }}</ref> [[Homeland security]] policy is coordinated at the [[White House]] by the [[United States Homeland Security Council|Homeland Security Council]]. Other agencies with significant homeland security responsibilities include the departments of [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Health and Human Services]], [[United States Department of Justice|Justice]], and [[United States Department of Energy|Energy]].

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:

[[Federal Protective Service (United States)|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]]

[[Command, Control and Interoperability Division]]: Responsible for developing systems for strengthening interoperability between different government divisions.

[[Office of Immigration Statistics]]

On September 5, 2007, the Associated Press reported that the DHS had scrapped an anti-terrorism [[data mining]] tool called [[ADVISE]] (Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement) after the agency's internal [[inspector general]] found that [[Pilot (experiment)|pilot]] testing of the system had been performed using data on real people without required [[privacy]] safeguards in place.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-56_Jun07.pdf|title=ADVISE Could Support Intelligence Analysis More Effectively|work=pdf file|publisher=DHS|access-date=October 31, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Ryan|last=Singel|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9353365|title=Homeland Data Tool Needs Privacy Help, Report Says |magazine=Wired|date=March 20, 2007|access-date=October 31, 2007}}</ref> The system, in development at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|Lawrence Livermore]] and [[Pacific Northwest National Laboratory]] since 2003, has cost the agency $42 million to date. Controversy over the program is not new; in March 2007, the Government Accountability Office stated that "the ADVISE tool could misidentify or erroneously associate an individual with undesirable activity such as [[fraud]], crime or terrorism." Homeland Security's Inspector General later said that ADVISE was poorly planned, time-consuming for analysts to use, and lacked adequate justifications.<ref>{{cite news|first=Michael J.|last=Sniffen|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090500795_pf.html|title=DHS Ends Criticized Data-Mining Program|newspaper=The Washington Post|agency=Associated Press|date=September 5, 2007|access-date=October 31, 2007}}</ref>

Goodman's story provoked outrage in the [[blogosphere]],<ref>Cole, John (January 9, 2006) [http://www.balloon-juice.com/2006/01/09/your-mail-free-for-government-inspection/ Your Mail- Free for Government Inspection], ''Balloon Juice''</ref> as well as in the more established media. Reacting to the incident, ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' remarked "unlike other prying government agencies, Homeland Security wants you to know it is watching you."<ref>Dees, Diane (January 9, 2006) [http://motherjones.com/mojo/2006/01/department-homeland-security-opens-kansas-professors-mail Department of Homeland Security opens Kansas professor's mail], ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]''</ref> CNN observed "on the heels of the [[NSA warrantless surveillance controversy|NSA wiretapping controversy]], Goodman's letter raises more concern over the balance between privacy and security."<ref>[http://quiz.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/12/sitroom.02.html Transcript] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708171125/http://quiz.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/12/sitroom.02.html |date=July 8, 2011 }} from ''[[The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer|The Situation Room]]'' (January 12, 2006)</ref>