It’s Time to Dismantle the Department of Homeland Security
Slate • • nation
Key Points:
- Rep. Dan Goldman proposed cutting all funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until it reforms Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but some argue for dismantling DHS entirely due to its systemic issues.
- DHS was created in 2002 by merging 22 agencies to improve counterterrorism coordination after 9/11, but its structure has led to inefficiency and weakened individual agencies' effectiveness.
- Key agencies like the FBI and CIA were excluded from DHS, while the department grew into one of the largest federal agencies with a sprawling budget and workforce, yet suffered from poor leadership and politicization.
- ICE, formed from the merger of immigration enforcement bodies within DHS, has become politicized and controversial, particularly under the
