It was a beautiful day in New York and people were going about their day as usual. The streets were full of people rushing to work with their morning coffee in their hand and cabs constantly honking at slow pedestrians. Everything was peaceful until one of the Twin Towers began to collapse. The events on September 11, 2001 shook the country off its feet and put fear in American citizens’ hearts. Since then, the government acted to provide security for Americans in their homeland and maximize their efforts to prevent such a tragic event from happening again. As a citizen of the United States, homeland security is my concern, as well as that of many other citizens and it is our job to question the efficacy of the government in this situation. …show more content…
At the time, it seemed like the most excellent establishment, the American government protecting its citizens. Now as a much more mature American citizen, I see the flaws in the system and I want to explore them in this …show more content…
This initiative also established a new department in the President’s cabinet placing Tom Ridge as the first Secretary of Homeland Security. The DHS absorbed agencies such as the INS and took upon itself some of the roles of other agencies like the Coast Guard, Border Patrol and Secret Service. The department’s main jobs are preventing terrorism, securing the borders, enforcing immigration laws and safeguarding cyberspace. For the DHS to do so, it requires agile intelligence capabilities, thus the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act established a Director of National Intelligence, who is required to have expert knowledge on national security. The current Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, celebrates the department’s fourteen years with a promise to “do much more in the years ahead, especially by focusing on [the] mission, enforcing the law, and investing in [the] workforce” (Kelly). Former Director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnel, stated that with the terrorist threat looming, it is important to “think domestically”
September 11, 2001 was a day that Americans and the world for that matter will not soon forget. When two planes went into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and two others went into the Pentagon and a small town in Pennsylvania, the world was rocked. Everyone in the United States felt very vulnerable and unsafe from attacks that might follow. As a result, confidence in the CIA, FBI, and the airlines were shaken. People were scared to fly after what had happened.
In order for security to take a step forward the changes must begin at the top. A new cabinet position, Secretary of Homeland Security, was created. Tom Ridge was the first man to take this position. His sole responsibility was the protection of our country. The first problem he ran into w...
In 2002, DHS, “with the passage of the Homeland Security Act by Congress in November, DHS formally came into being as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department to further coordinate and unify national homeland security efforts” (DHS, n.d.). Not since President Harry Truman consolidated the armed forces into the Department of Defense had the government undergone such a large reorganization. Twenty-two agencies came together to form DHS with tasks that include border patrol, disaster recovery and transportation safety just to name a few.
September 11th, 2001 is one of the worst days in the United States of America’s history by far. It all began at 8:45am when a stolen airplane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Many people believed that this was...
There were numerous events and threats leading up to the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center which left chaos amongst the streets of downtown New York City and would leave America and its families devastated and prone to change after this infamous date in our nation’s history. What happened on September 11th, 2001 was without a doubt both horrific and ill natured. Multiple terrorists hijacked several US airliners that would later be flown into the North and South towers, the Pentagon, and also an unintended area in Pennsylvania. It can be said that the United States of America was unprepared and vulnerable for these occurrences.
The United States has endured numerous security breaches and high security threats over the past two decades. After the attacks on 9/11, the office of Intelligence became a vital source in retrieving sensitive data and tracking down potential terrorists and their networks which could pose a threat to the American people and then forwarding that vital information to the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies. Intelligence became a key role in “assessing threats to critical American infrastructures, bio-and nuclear terrorism, pandemic diseases, threats to the borders to the nation, and radicalization within American society” (Randol, 2009, p. 7). The sharing of homeland security intelligence has become a precedence for Congress and the government. Our nation must be one step ahead of any potential terrorists that want to harm our turf. Within this text the capabilities and limitations of both domestic and foreign intelligence in supporting homeland security efforts will be explained;
“Next Generation 911 (NG911) will enhance the 911 system to create a faster, more flexible, resilient, and scalable system that allows 911 to keep up with communication technology used by the public” (911.gov, n.d.). As previously quoted, 70 percent of the nation’s population is using mobile devices that are not compatible with current 911 standards. The NG911 policy is a compilation of ideas, research, framework information on NG911 systems, committees and organization established to assist PSAPs, as well as, suggested protocols for implementation and continued usage of a Next Generation 911 system.
9/11 was one of the darkest days in America, but some say the government could have been part of these attacks. For many years people have debated about the 9/11 cover up. This theory cannot explain why the government would do this. Once people understand why the 9/11 cover up is fake, they will begin to see the answer to their problem, could the government have done this? This conspiracy theory is wrong because, terrorists admitted to the attacks, so many people died, and there's no evidence against the government.
Bellavita, C. (2009). Changing homeland security: The year in review - 2008. Homeland Security Affairs, 5(1) Retrieved from http://ezproxy.fau.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1266212855?accountid=10902
Homeland security was developed by the United States government to protect the country from external aggression, reduce the likelihood of terrorist attacks and manage the damage that occurs in case of attacks. To this end, the government set up and reconstituted numerous agencies to aid in the fight against terrorism in the United States. The United States Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security constitute the most prominent departments under the United States law to champion the fight against any attacks by extremist groups. Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the United States’ military also have a role to play in homeland security. With the increasing cases of attacks and acts of aggression towards the United States, the government sought to strengthen the resolve to curb any attacks aimed at killing or maiming the citizens or destruction of government institutions and installations. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, it was apparent that stringent measures were needed to prevent attacks on American soil and protect the citizens of the country. This paper examines the duties; responsibility and intelligence methods used by the military, federal, State and local law enforcement agencies, as well as homeland security agencies in the fight against terrorism, with the aim of drawing similarities and differences.
Immigration is the key to diversity in the United States. The United States (U.S.) opened its borders and shores many years ago, allowing foreign nationals into the country. Foreign nationals refer to the U.S. as “the land of opportunity”; this belief drives foreign nationals to migrate to the country. Foreign nationals must register with the U.S. government and obtain the proper documentation to become legal U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants and/or undocumented workers are foreign nationals that do not register with the U.S. government upon entering the U.S., or they overstay the allotted time of their temporary nonimmigrant visas. Illegal immigrant and/or undocumented workers receive the same benefits as U.S. citizens such as health, public housing, and educational often while avoiding paying state and federal taxes. The U.S. government must do a better job of monitoring the status foreign nationals.
The issue on illegal immigrants has been facing America over so many years “What is illegal immigration? This is the migration of foreigners to a country who are not legally eligible to migrate or extend their stay for more than a given period yet they refuse to leave. According to the United States Department of Home Security, people involved in illegal immigration are those non US residents who either crossed the borders without inspection or people who are given visas to stay for a while but instead of leaving, they overstay.” There is no reliable count of illegal immigration. Of course, people coming into the United States illegally are trying to avoid detection. The best indicator available is the number of people arrested
While immigration for our country is good the ability to become a legal citizen has become insanely hard therefore leading immigrants to illegally cross our border, which negatively impacts our country.
Module 1) There are multiple topics of interest addressing the United States security during the hearing of threats to homeland security. Mr. Henry addresses the focus and priority on reducing vulnerabilities, and ascertains that now the focus needs to be redirected to identifying who adversaries are. Once adversaries are identified, the next step will be to build a comprehensive plan across both the private sector and the United States government. This comprehensive plan will be used to distinguish how intelligence is shared between each sector.
There has been a widely talked about need and effort to improve intelligence analysis practice based on scholarship and research. It is the job of intelligence analysts to provide policymakers in government and other fields with relevant and timely information, but not to go as far as shaping or influencing policy in any particular direction or based on any political agenda. With regards to the Intelligence Community (IC) in the United States, major reforms have taken place since the passing of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005, signed by President George W. Bush. Improving and creating more structured analytical approaches to intelligence gathering, information processing, and intelligence sharing has been one feature of this new initiative. Another is increasing funding and resources for the Intelligence Community.