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09-11-2014, 06:20 PM #1
Southwest Border Command Is Planned at Homeland Security
Department Discusses Pentagon-Style Structure to Stem Migrants, Crime
By Devlin Barrett
Updated Sept. 11, 2014 6:09 p.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal
A U.S. Border Patrol agent detains an undocumented immigrant who had fled through dense brush this week near Falfurrias, Texas. Getty Images
WASHINGTON—Homeland Security officials are planning to create a military-like chain of command to police the Southwest U.S. border, in what could be the department's most significant restructuring since its creation in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The plan would create a Southern Command, or Southcom in military parlance, bringing together groups of agents from Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, these people said. A Coast Guard admiral would oversee Southcom, and have command over personnel from both agencies, they said.
The effort is aimed at reducing the influx of illegal immigrants and improving investigations of criminal activity along the Southwest border. More than 400,000 immigrants were apprehended trying to illegally cross into the U.S. in the 2013 budget year, according to Border Patrol statistics. In recent months, authorities have struggled to deal with a wave of children entering the U.S. The number of children entering illegally nearly doubled, to 66,127, from the previous year, according to the government.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has been pushing to overhaul the organizational structure of the department, which has long been criticized by lawmakers and some former agency officials over how it manages and coordinates resources.
Mr. Johnson, a former Pentagon official, took over in December 2013 and ordered a review of the department to see what structural or organizational changes should be made. He has also brought some Pentagon staff with him to work at the Department of Homeland Security.
Adopting a military-style structure would create a strict hierarchy, one that advocates say clarifies the chain of command, speeds up decision-making and reduces bureaucratic disputes over turf.
Such a reorganization, which is still being discussed at DHS, could require legislation. But it has proven difficult to pass any immigration-related legislation, as the Obama administration and congressional Republicans remain far apart on the issue.
Absent legislation, DHS could instead pursue a less sweeping plan by creating a task force to shake up the command structure, the people said.
The main goal of the reorganization is to improve how agents investigate criminal activity along the Southwest border—producing better intelligence-sharing, manpower and equipment allocation, and economies of scale, these people said.
DHS spokeswoman Marsha Catron said it "continuously looks for ways to strengthen our efforts and advance our law-enforcement mission."
From its inception, critics have faulted DHS operations over everything from its disjointed budget and procurement processes to what some complain is a frequent lack of coordination among its agencies and with others who are outside the department.
When the department was formed, ICE and CBP were given separate roles, with CBP overseeing the borders while ICE received a broader mandate to enforce immigration laws around the country, not just along the borders.
Yet less than two years after the department was formed, lawmakers who created that distinction were already debating whether ICE and CBP should be merged into a single entity to function more effectively. That idea failed to gain traction, but creating a southern command on the Southwest border would have a similar effect, since much of the agencies' operations are focused there.
Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said longstanding challenges in running the two agencies could be fixed by such a reorganization. He said Mr. Johnson is "trying to draw upon some of the best practices from his Department of Defense experiences to improve the coordination efforts and operational efficiencies on the DHS front.''
"It's trying to synchronize human assets with geography,'' said Mr. Adler. "The land-to-officer ratio is not in our favor.''
Using a football analogy, Mr. Adler said law-enforcement agencies on the Southwest border must play "zone defense, but it can't be static zone defense, and each of the players on the defense have to know where each other is. Improving the command structure will improve the integrity of the zone defense.''
The internal discussions, however, come at a time when politicians and the public are questioning the increased militarization of law-enforcement work after the heavily armed response to protests in Ferguson, Mo., over the shooting last month of an unarmed 18-year-old.
Mr. Adler said he didn't think a DHS revamp had anything to do with the militarization issue, which was debated at a congressional hearing earlier this week. Many lawmakers, particularly Republicans, have pushed for the Southwest border to be more aggressively patrolled.
The Southcom plan also has raised concerns among some in the affected agencies that it could create more, not less, confusion about who is in charge—giving employees two distinct chains of command that mightn't always agree.
Any decision on whether to try to implement the plan could still be months away, these people said. The Obama administration announced earlier this month it wouldn't take executive action soon to alter immigration procedures and policies, so any attempt to reorganize the agencies might wait until a broader package of policy goals is unveiled, said people familiar with the discussions. That may be on hold until after the November congressional election, or early next year, they said.
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09-12-2014, 08:19 AM #2
DHS wants Southwest border command to better handle illegal immigration, crime
**FILE** U.S. Border Patrol Agents listen to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson speak during a press conference in Edinburg, Texas, on June 30, 2014. Johnson said he is sending an additional 150 Border Patrol agents to the Rio ... more >
By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times - Thursday, September 11, 2014
The Department of Homeland Security may be in for a massive restructuring. Plans for the creation of a Southern Command, or Southcom, to better manage its resources are being pushed by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Mr. Johnson believes the implementation of Southcom would reduce the number of illegal immigrants who successfully cross the southern border while also improving law enforcement’s ability to clamp down on criminal activity, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Southcom’s aim would be to better integrate the work that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) do to protect the homeland.
Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told the Journal that Mr. Johnson is “trying to draw upon some of the best practices from his Department of Defense experiences to improve the coordination efforts and operational efficiencies on the DHS front.” Mr. Johnson believes that Southcom would mitigate turf battles between agencies, clear up bureaucratic delays and establish a clear hierarchy.
Any decisions by the Obama administration on the creation of Southcom, which may require congressional action to move forward, will likely take place after midterm elections, the Journal reported. If Southcom ends up being rejected, then DHS would still have the option of creating a special task force of ICE and CBP personnel. That task force would have a similar effect to the creation of Southcom, the paper reported.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...#ixzz3D6QnYU8P
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09-12-2014, 08:31 AM #3
A more simple solution would be to allow agents to enforce our laws, structure change in command would change little.
I'm old with many opinions few solutions.
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09-12-2014, 06:48 PM #4
- Join Date
- Apr 2012
- Posts
- 3,185
If Jeh Johnson and Barack Obama has anything to do with it, Hell NO ! Every thing proposed by this administration should be opposed!
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09-13-2014, 12:15 AM #5
Don't believe it until you see an 1,669 mile-long fence go up ..
Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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