Department of Homeland Security in the USA - Essay Example

The primary mission of the department is to protect America and its citizens from, and responding to terror attacks, natural disasters as well as manmade accidents with The USA and its territories including protectorates (Chertoff, 2009). This department is regarded as equivalent to interior ministries in other countries, and its activities are coordinated at the Whitehouse. Creation of this department followed the creation of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) by President Bush in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks.

The Homeland security was created in 2002 by the Department of Homeland Security Act (2002). Creation of the department brought together other 22 government agencies that were reorganized to become one department to oversee security matters within the USA territory (Barkun, 2011). The 22 departments unified under the Department of Homeland Security were formally non military agencies of the government but had some of their functions relating to Security. Some of the divisions in the Department of Homeland Security include the Border and Transportation Security division, which is the largest division, The Emergency Preparedness and Response division, the Science and Technology division and the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection division (Barkun, 2011).

Other departments with similar functions with Homeland security such as the National Security Agency (NSA) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and The Central Investigation Agency (CIA) were left out of the Homeland Security Department (Barkun, 2011). The Department of Homeland Security has five main duties and responsibilities. These include protecting the American people from terrorist threats and attacks, Securing borders of the United States of America, enforcing immigration laws, improving the country’s readiness for, as well as response to, and recovery from disasters and finally unifying the department so as to function efficiently (Chertoff, 2009).

The department’s responsibility of protecting the American people from terrorist threats is its primary responsibility and one that takes priority over any other role of the department. Under this role, the department channels its resources towards prevention of terrorist attacks as well as preparedness for any terror attack. The Department also has the role of advising American citizens all over the world on security matters coming as a result of terrorist threats. The department strives to encourage the citizens to be prepared as opposed to living in constant fear of terrorist threats and attacks.

The other important function of the department is to secure the country’s borders. This includes ensuring security of the southern, Northern border, the air and sea ports. The department deports illegal immigrants who could be in the country with ill motives. Another responsibility of the department with regard to securing borders is strengthening the fight against smuggling of drugs, weapons and cash obtained illegally. When it comes to immigration, the department of Homeland Security is mandated with the responsibility of facilitating the process of legal immigration and also cracking down on individuals who break the country’s laws.