DHS Fact Sheet on 5 Year Anniversary
I know many people here examine the weaknesses of DHS performance but this is what they have published as their current record of accomplishments so far. I have to say that without them, we would be a lot worse off.
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http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1204819171793.shtm
Fact Sheet: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Five-Year Anniversary Progress and Priorities
Release Date: March 6, 2008
There is no parallel in government to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) start-up five years ago, and the degree of maturity it has reached in the short period since. The department's growth is testament to its 208,000 employees, who every day put service before self - patrolling borders, protecting ports, defending the skies, enforcing immigration laws, and responding to disasters and emergencies. The department has experienced a number of significant tests in its short history, is intensely focused on the next major task: ensuring a smooth transition from one administration to the next, through rigorous plans, exercises and best practices. In its five years, the department has achieved much to protect and secure the United States:
Protecting the Nation from Dangerous People
DHS prevents the entry of terrorists and criminals while facilitating the legitimate flow of people by strengthening interior security efforts and continuing to gain effective control of America’s borders.
Expanded Border Fencing and Patrol: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has completed more than 302 miles of fencing, with approximately 167.7 miles of primary pedestrian fence and approximately 134.7 miles of vehicle fence now in place. CBP is well on its way to constructing a total of 670 miles of fencing by the end of CY 2008: 370 miles of pedestrian and 300 miles of vehicle fencing. Additionally, the FY 2009 budget seeks to hire, train and equip 2,200 new Border Patrol agents, which will more than double the size of the Border Patrol to 20,000 agents by the end of September 2009.
Connecting the Dots: DHS renewed its Passenger Name Record (PNR) agreement with the European Union, which requires airlines to provide DHS with PNR data for all flights carrying passengers into and out of the U.S. PNR data enables DHS to pre-screen all flights to identify passengers that may warrant additional screening upon arrival to the U.S.
Better Biometrics: Ten‑fingerprint collection is underway at nine major U.S. airports and will roll out to the remaining 275 ports of entry by the end of 2008. This upgrade from two‑fingerprint collection enables DHS to check visitors’ full set of fingerprints against latent fingerprints collected from terrorist training camps, safe houses and battlefields around the world. Additionally, US-VISIT and the U.S. Coast Guard have partnered to use mobile biometric collection to identify migrants and smugglers attempting to illegally enter the United States through waters near Puerto Rico, resulting in 118 prosecutions and a 40 percent reduction in the flow of illegal migration. This program will expand to the Florida Straits in 2008.
Secure Documentation Standards: Compliance with Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requirements for air travel has exceeded 99 percent since implementation in January 2007. New procedures at land and sea ports of entry implemented in January 2008 ended oral declarations and limited acceptable documents further secure our borders. DHS also issued the REAL ID final rule, establishing uniform standards that enhance the integrity and reliability of driver’s licenses and identification cards, while dramatically reducing state implementation costs by roughly 73 percent.
Enhanced Aviation Security: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has increased by more than 175 percent the number of personnel trained in behavior detection techniques to identify potentially high-risk passengers in airports. Further, TSA now requires that holders of airport-issued credentials be perpetually vetted against the Terrorist Screening Database and is expanding its Travel Document Checking program at passenger security checkpoints. It also has harmonized the 3-1-1 liquids rule with the European Union and many other countries, and published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in August 2007 to assume watch-list checking from the airlines under the Secure Flight program.
Record-Breaking Law Enforcement: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has removed a record 276,912 illegal aliens from the U.S. and dramatically increased penalties against employers whose hiring processes violate the law, securing fines and judgments of more than $30 million while making 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests. ICE arrested a record 3,302 gang members and associates in cities nationwide. ICE’s Operation Predator targeted sexual predators who prey on children; arrests by the program since its inception topped 10,000 in June 2007, with more than 5,500 having been removed from the United States. Under DHS, the U.S. Secret Service made nearly 29,000 criminal arrests for counterfeiting, cyber and other financial crimes, 98 percent of which resulted in convictions, and seized more than $295 million in counterfeit currency. In the last five years, the U.S. Coast Guard has interdicted and repatriated over 40,000 illegal migrants at sea, saving countless lives in the process.
Protecting U.S. and World Leaders: The U.S. Secret Service continues to meet unprecedented challenges of protecting U.S. and world leaders. In addition, protection of presidential candidates and comprehensive plans for securing the 2008 presidential campaign are being implemented. Under DHS, the Secret Service has led the security planning and implementation for 11 designated National Special Security Events.
E-Verify: This U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services program allows employers to use an automated system to verify name, date of birth and Social Security Number, along with immigration information for non-citizens, against federal databases to confirm the employment eligibility of both citizen and non-citizen new hires. Currently, more than 54,000 employers in every state are enrolled in E-Verify and, on average, the program increases by about 1,000 new employers each week.
Protecting the Nation from Dangerous Goods
As a part of its risk-based approach, the Department is focused on programs to identify, track, and intercept nuclear and radiological components and systems at ports of entry and in transportation systems within U.S. borders. The Department is also intensifying efforts to strengthen capabilities that reduce the risk of a biological attack in the United States.
Comprehensive Radiation Detection: The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), in coordination with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Coast Guard, has deployed more than 1,000 radiation detection devices to the nation’s land and sea ports of entry. 100 percent of cargo containers crossing the southern border and 91 percent at the northern border are scanned for radiation, and more than 97 percent are scanned at our seaports.
Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security: Under Operation Neptune Shield, the U.S. Coast Guard escorts vessels carrying especially hazardous cargo, protecting them – and nearby population centers and infrastructure – from external attack. In 2007, the Coast Guard escorted over 1,100 vessels/barges carrying such hazardous cargoes.
Record-Breaking Narcotics Seizures: The U.S. Coast Guard removed more than 355,000 pounds of cocaine at sea this year – a record-breaking 160 metric tons – worth an estimated street value of more than $4.7 billion. Since the formation of DHS, the Coast Guard has removed over 2.65 million pounds of drugs. CBP frontline personnel seized more than 3.2 million pounds of narcotics at and between ports of entry. In fiscal 2007, ICE seized 241,967 pounds of cocaine, 4,331 pounds of heroin, 2,731 pounds of methamphetamine and 1.3 million pounds of marijuana. Additionally, ICE drug investigations led to 8,920 arrests and 5,539 convictions of individuals associated with narcotic violations.
Stemming the Flow of Weapons, Cash and Counterfeit Goods: ICE’s Shield America program achieved new successes in intercepting illegal exports of weapons, military equipment and sensitive technology, significantly increasing results with 188 arrests and 127 convictions in fiscal 2007. A new ICE initiative targeting unlicensed money services businesses that illegally transfer funds yielded 39 arrests, 30 convictions and seizures of more than $7.9 million.
Reducing Risk from Small Vessels: The U.S. Coast Guard worked with small boat manufacturers, industry groups and the public to identify mitigation strategies to address the security risks posed by small vessels. The Coast Guard’s 12 Maritime Safety and Security Teams, part of a 3,000-person Deployable Operations Group, are stationed at strategic ports nationwide and are uniquely trained to counter the small vessel threat. The Coast Guard and DNDO are collaborating with local authorities on a pilot program in Puget Sound and San Diego waterways on small vessel radiation detection.
BioWatch: The FY 2009 budget seeks to fund procurement of BioWatch automated detection sensors under the Office of Health Affairs and initiate deployment of additional automated sensors in ten BioWatch jurisdictions, for a total if 12 jurisdictions. Automated detection will enhance the capabilities of the BioWatch environmental monitoring system designed for early warning of bioterrorism incidents.
Protecting Critical Infrastructure
The Department aims to protect critical infrastructure and key resources, essential government operations, public health and welfare, and the nation’s economic and national security interests to mitigate potential vulnerabilities and to ensure terrorist plans are not successful.
Setting Chemical Security Standards: The National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) established national standards for chemical facility security in a comprehensive set of regulations to protect chemical facilities from attack and prevent theft of chemicals that could be used as weapons.
Increasing Cyber Security: DHS established the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) to provide a 24-hour watch, warning, and response operations center, which in 2007 issued over 200 actionable alerts on cyber security vulnerabilities or incidents. US-CERT developed the EINSTEIN intrusion detection program, which collects, analyzes, and shares computer security information across the federal civilian government. EINSTEIN is currently deployed at 15 federal agencies, including DHS, and plans are in place to expand the program to all federal departments and agencies.In addition, the Secret Service currently maintains 24 Electronic Crimes Task Forces to prevent, detect, mitigate and aggressively investigate cyber attacks on our nation’s financial and critical infrastructures.
Greater Information Sharing: The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) leads DHS efforts to improve the sharing of information and intelligence with federal, state, local and tribal partners, and to change the culture from a “need to knowâ€
