New Department of Homeland Security to be Created

The White House announced on June 6^th its intent to create a new Department of Homeland Security in order to develop and execute more effective policies with regard to this function. According to a White House press release, the new Department would consist of four divisions: Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures, Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. The The changing nature of the threats facing America requires a new government structure to protect against invisible enemies that can strike with a wide variety of weapons. Today no one single government agency has homeland security as its primary mission. In fact, responsibilities for homeland security are dispersed among more than 100 different government organizations. America needs a single, unified homeland security structure that will improve protection against today’s threats and be flexible enough to help meet the unknown threats of the future.

According to the White House plan, the INS would be included within the new Department in the Border and Transportation Security Division. However, it appears the INS would still under-go some form of its currently-anticipated reorganization with the processing of immigration benefits and services being separated in some way from the enforcement activities. While it also appears the State Department would still be responsible for processing and issuing visas through U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad, the new Department would "assume the legal authority to issue visas to foreign nationals and admit them into the country" so it is unclear how the new Department will interact with the State Department. Finally, the Department would also incorporate the United States Customs Service (currently part of the Department of Treasury), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (Department of Agriculture), and the Transportation Security Administration (Department of Transportation) along with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Border Patrol as part of its border security jurisdiction.

Official Web Page of the Department of Homeland Security

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