Decision Support Paper: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Introduction and Background

This text analyses the budget plan of both the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one of DHS’s operating directories, with an aim of determining how the said directorate is impacted upon by the DHS budget plan. In so doing, the needs of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement will be analyzed, vis-à-vis the budget priorities of the DHS, with an aim of identifying misalignments. If any misalignments are identified, recommendations for aligning the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program priorities with the DHS strategic plan will be presented.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) concerns itself with the enforcement of federal laws that relate to immigration and trade, customs, and border control so as to not only enhance public safety, but also promote homeland security. In essence, ICE “has an annual budget of approximately $6 billion, primarily devoted to three operational directorates – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) (ICE, 2017).

Discussion

The key highlights of Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s budget plan include funds request for the National Fugitive Operations Program to enhance its information sharing abilities, Detention Reform Outreach for stakeholder outreach as well as training purposes, FOIA Personnel to enhance disclosure efforts, Criminal History Information Systems expansion, and Automation Modernization (DHS, 2014).

The needs and goals of DHS’s budget plan for each agency within could be identified as the prevention of terrorism and enhancement of security, securing and management of the country’s borders, enforcement and...

The role of ICE in stalling the movement of illicit funds by targeting cross-border systems likely to be used by criminal and terror enterprises is also highlighted across the board.
It is important to note that in essence, Immigration and Custom is prioritized in the DHS budget plan. This is more so the case taking into consideration the fact that the priority areas of DHS budget plan which have been highlighted above largely rhyme with not only the purpose and mandate of ICE, but also its budget plan (also as highlighted above).

Summary (1) Overview of Each Plan

Quadrennial Homeland Security Review

Overall, the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review plan proclaims adherence to the Homeland Security’s five basic missions modified to efficiently address emerging hazards and threats. The specific strategic priorities to be adopted over the 4-year period include “securing against the evolving terrorism threat, safeguard and secure cyberspace, a homeland security strategy for countering biological threats and hazards, a risk segmentation approach to securing and managing flows of people and goods, strengthening the execution of our missions through public-private partnerships” (DHS, 2014). Immigration has been identified as an area of ongoing priority and emphasis, alongside two other priority areas. This is in line with one of the key highlights of ICE, i.e. Criminal History Information…