The Department of Homeland Security and its Challenges
The federal government established the Department of Homeland Security in response to the terrorist assault that was clearly visible on September 11, 2001, and did so in order to highlight the vulnerabilities that were known to exist in the system of national security. The Department of Homeland Security was established and given the mission of preventing and resolving safety issues, including natural and man-made disasters. (Ratchev, 2013).
In order to prevent natural disasters, be ready for them, recover from them, and protect the country from terrorist attacks, DHS has created workable strategies. However, DHS has problems and worries that affect how well it works to advance national security. The implementation and integration of management functions for realizing mitigation of terrorist attacks is a challenge facing DHS. Undoubtedly, DHS has tried by all means in enhancing its management function. Evidently, DHS has not always effectively executed or integrated its functions on concerns of terrorism. Notably, the challenge of terrorism has considerably contributed to the economic meltdown of the country and hampered the performance of DHS. Deployment of some technologies in meeting the defined requirements on terrorism is faced by challenges of unskilled personnel in broad aspects of the acquisition of management, and this has not developed a financial management integration system (Sokol, 2014). This impacts on DHS capability to have a ready accessibility to reliable information for the effective decision-making process.
The Immigration, Port, and Border Security Challenge
The immigration, port and border security is another challenging issue that faces DHS. Concerns arise in the strategic management of risk and assessment of homeland security efforts. The DHS committee oversight encompasses monitoring of ports and border for security. This committee is mandated to work with the agencies of the government regarding immigration and citizenship issues (Ratchev, 2013). The strategic enforcement in mitigation of the threats is critical terrorist threats that DHS encounter. Terrorists find their way into the nation through the undocumented immigration process along the ports and the borders. Formation of the new department along with working for the implementation of statutory mandate for realizing the department initiated programs is a major problem and thus responding to terrorism threats is a challenge that faces DHS. Fundamental threats have impacted approaches formulated by DHS, limited strategic moves and informed program planning hampering decision-making. The problem of undocumented immigration has driven policy formulations which are aimed at striking a careful balance between the safety of US and keeping the international relations and commerce in good shape. Biological, chemical, and nuclear security is an issue that has driven many attacks in the nation and thus hindered the effectiveness of DHS to execute its objectives. The preparedness of the organization in the prevention and responding to the terrorist attack with the use of nuclear weapons is a significant challenge which has witnessed the mass destruction.
Disaster Management Challenges
Disaster management is also a critical aspect of the DHS. Catastrophic disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, the collapse of buildings, floods and many hazardous incidents are issues that DHS has found challenges in handling. The social impacts of these disasters, environmental consequences, and terrorism present to be critical to DHS. The economic disruptions resulting from natural calamities like wildfires and hurricanes are perilous and reach beyond the management of the local, the state and DHS. The economy and operation of the businesses, infrastructural systems, and displacement of people along with death result from natural calamities. The frequency and the extreme of the disaster events and the cost it impacts on the nation continue to be a major challenge (Lawson, 2014). DHS has to formulate preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery strategies that will help in preventing the devastating consequences of these distances occurrences. The government has to provide the course for support DHS in learning environments in its form of disaster simulation and exercise (Sokol, 2014). The department also has to reinforce professional skills like geospatial analysis, risk planning and assessment along with disaster resilience. The DHS should dive into the value of disaster management and receive appropriate training that will be a guiding force in mitigating the problem of disaster calamities.
Agencies to Lead DHS
The agencies that should lead the homeland security response include United States Customs and Border Protection, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Besides, organizations such as Transportation Security Agency (TSA), the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have to help DHS for effective response. These organizations are mandated in various fields to protect the nation and ensure that there is adequate security. Through the corporation of these organizations with the DHS, appropriate policies will be formulated which will drive the implementation process and result in a safety nation. Amicable solutions have to be carried out in identifying potential threats to the nation, for example, at the borders, ports, and even on disaster issues.
Conclusion
Appropriate leadership and coordination of DHS with the agencies will prove to be a breakthrough in mitigating the adverse consequences and the challenges of national security. This will strengthen information use and share among the parties involved. This is a notable move which affects DHS's capability to satisfy the stated desirable missions efficiently. For the organization to realize results, it has to formulate appropriate plans that will be easy to implement and demonstrate stronger leadership, implementation strategy, and commitment to its work has to be a priority. Therefore, the delivery of significant mission capabilities like system detection of terrorism and nuclear materials in containers and vehicles should be a central aspect of every agency.
References
Lawson T. (2014). Critical issues in homeland security: a casebook. Choice Reviews Online, 52(02), 52-1066-52-1066. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.52-1066
Ratchev, V. (2013). The Growing Threat: Homeland Security Issues. Information & Security: An International Journal, 17, 61-74. http://dx.doi.org/10.11610/isij.1705
Sokol, D. (2014). Issues in homeland security. New Directions For Institutional Research, 2010(146), 3-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ir.339
