Law Critique the Homeland Security Enterprise’s Capability

Question:-

Critique the homeland security enterprise's capability to meet emergent future challenges while balancing civil liberties

Answer:-

While cyber security continues to be the most dangerous threat, the future for Homeland Security holds challenges such as increase in terrorism, vital screening of individuals and providing service credentials. The current scope of core capability for the DHS is the vital screenings at airports on a daily basis for every individual and also for providing credentials to people for travelling within the country, accessing critical infrastructures and all other important services (Etkin, Feldmann-Jensen, Smith, & Jensen, 2016). The capability of the department in managing these two scopes can be questioned because there are multiple layers of departmental agencies and systems are used. This decentralization cannot be considered as an appropriate approach because it would affect the budget in the long-run when future risks increase and there are stronger security requirements. These functions would become ineffective and not viable to use. The country is currently promoting US tourism aggressively which is an open invitation to foreign visitors and as tourism develops the airport screenings would become obsolete and insufficient to identify treats. The department needs fresh strategies to continue functioning effectively in the future.

The department does not have any enterprise approach to deal with the rising threats. There are unnecessary systems in place who do nothing but overlap each other and create redundancy and lead to a stagnant and inefficient system. Multiple entries of the same information do not lead to any action rather it just becomes overloaded piles of information. Too much information further cripples the capabilities of the department in a way that it hinders decision making. Due to multiple systems it may be possible to miss crucial inputs and lead to faulty decisions. It is recommended that only one system is used which would build the efficiency of the department. Although, the department has realized the need to integrate databases it is quite time-consuming process and would take long to be completed (Nelson, 2013). Also, there is no heed to complete the process. Currently, it also lacks effective automation which is the need of the hour to handle future challenges. Automation saves time and effort and builds efficiency in the core capability areas. The department also lacks the confidence of the citizens due to conflicts. Data screening capabilities are lacking which does not provide a comprehensive view of the problem to any agencies. The department also needs risk-based data screening approach (Sutherland, 2005). Strain on financial resources would eventually lead to budget cuts and the department would not be able to give equal importance to all concerns. It needs optimum resource allocation which must be decided on the basis of risk priorities, i.e. limited resources for low priority risks and ample resources for high priority risks. It does not mean that low priority risks should be ignored. If ignored, they would lead to higher amount of risks and increase expenditures instead of the intended savings (DHS, 2020).

Another capability which is at the point of concern is the department’s ability to manage identities. The type of information used in validating credentials are not trustworthy. This is because the nature of basic information such as name, date of birth and similar information along with legitimate supporting documents can eb easily forged by terrorists and militants. Therefore, this basic information must be supported through the implementation of mandatory biometrics as well. Duplication of biographical information and conflicting information is not possible to detect at all times whereas, the biometric based data is extremely difficult to duplicate. Also, mismatched biometrics can be verified against criminal databases. The department also needs to focus on its information sharing capabilities. Although organizational structures have been revamped to facilitate better information sharing, but human mind and conscience tend to forget events that do not occur frequently. As the heat to share valuable information post 9/11 cools off the department would be again cut off from first hand citizens’ information. Hence, promotions and emphasis on continued information sharing should be carried out relentlessly.