Divorce for FEMA; marriage for Customs?As a new year begins on Capitol Hill, rumblings are beginning for some structural changes in the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States . First up may be a merger of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. and Customs Enforcement, two different agencies with similar tasks that appear to be at odds with each other, according to a DHS inspector general report. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, charged to be the investigative arm of the DHS' Border and Transportation Security, Directorate, was formed from bits and pieces of the Immigration and Naturalization Service Noun 1. Immigration and Naturalization Service - an agency in the Department of Justice that enforces laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons to the United States INS , Federal Protective Service and Federal Air Marshal Service The Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) is a law enforcement agency of the United States federal government under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration of the United States Department of Homeland Security. . Customs and Border Protection came from the Treasury Department's Customs Service and the Department of Justice's Border Patrol. The inspector general's report paints a picture of two bickering children under DHS parentage. The sibling rivalry is causing a decline in information sharing and coordination between the agencies as well as frustrations within employee ranks. The overlapping goals are weakening efforts to apprehend and deport illegal aliens, the report said. Sens. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, who requested the report, said they will consider legislation to merge the two. "These two agencies are dysfunctional in their current structure," Collins said. As for the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical , calls have come from left-leaning think tanks in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster to divorce the agency from DHS and give it cabinet-level status. "It does matter where you sit in the cabinet," Susan Rice, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said at a Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress is a progressive American political policy research and advocacy organization. Its website describes it as "...a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. forum on combating catastrophic terror. Such standing would give the head of the agency easier access to the president, she said. No lawmakers have come forward to support the notion yet. |
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