Since October 2004, 136 Customs and Border Protection employees have been indicted on or convicted of corruption-related charges." (Becker, p. 1) And on a broader institutional level, there is significant evidence that DHS, constructed to respond to threats of terrorism, has been used to justify the use of military and federal resources for preventing immigration along our shared border with Mexico. According to Sols (2010), "Through Sept. 7 this fiscal year, 176,736 criminal immigrants have been removed from the U.S. By Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That surpasses the total for all of last year, when 136,343 were removed." (Sols, p. 1) These figures suggest that Homeland Security's focus is highly susceptible to the political pressures of the time as opposed to the prevention of potentially catastrophic terrorist attacks.

Beyond this, because DHS is so generally unaccountable, it possesses an undue amount of influence on individual border cases. According to Martinez (2008), "the federal Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require all citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda to carry a passport that establishes identity and nationality when entering...

But that legislation does not prevent DHS from using its broad authority to control admission by setting standards for what is acceptable for entry into the United States, said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas." (Martinez, p. 1)
Conclusion:

Significant evidence abounds to suggest that in spite of its lofty promises and considerable costs, the Department of Homeland Security is a bureaucratic boondoggle that has done more to impose hardship on labor-seeking immigrants and ordinary Americans than on sleeper terrorist cells.

Works Cited:

Becker, a. (2012). Homeland Security Office Accused of Faking Reports on Internal Investigations. Huffington Post.

Cordes, J.J.; Yezer, a.; Young, G.; Foreman, M.C. & Kirschner, C. (2006). Estimating Economic Impacts of Homeland Security Measures. George Washington Institute of Public Policy.

Martinez, C. (2008). Homeland Security's new border-crossing rules prompt concern over economic impact. The Monitor.

Sols, D. (2010). Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano: Focus is on criminal immigrants. Dallas News.