Anyone who is at all familiar with immigration will be aware of the Department of Homeland Security, although you may not be entirely au fait with how this department began or precisely what it does. With the Department of Homeland Security preparing to nominate a brand new department secretary, now is a good time to become more familiar with this crucial part of the United States government, and understand how current proceedings might be affected by a new leader.
The Department of Homeland Security was established 11 years ago, back in 2002, as a combination off 22 different agencies. The aim of the Department is to keep the United States secure from both natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
The Department of Homeland Security is a big operation whose responsibilities include researching new technology, monitoring US security and training federal law enforcement officers, protecting and improving the infrastructure of the nation, detecting nuclear missiles and protecting the nation from threats from overseas. Both the US Secret Services and the US Coast Guard fall under the Department’s jurisdiction and it also runs the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services plus the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Control.
If you are an immigrant or are currently in the country on a US visa, you will most likely already be very familiar with at least one of those three agencies. The Department is currently in the throes of nominating a new department secretary.