President Releases Reorganization Plan
Posted Dec 06, 2002

On November 25, 2002, upon signing the Homeland Security Act of 2002 that creates the Department of Homeland Security and abolishes the INS, President George W. Bush released The Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan ("the Plan"). A number of the Plan's elements directly affect immigration.

Part One of the Plan discusses whether any existing functions of abolished agencies, such as INS, will become the responsibility of other governmental agencies outside of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to this section of the Plan, immigration functions dealing with the care of unaccompanied foreign national children will come under the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), rather than DHS. Hopefully, this change will ensure that these children will not be treated as criminals, housed with the general prison population, as has occurred in the past. Rather, it is hoped that these children will receive proper care while HHS determines what is in the best interest of each child.

Part Two sets projected deadlines for implementing certain aspects of the Plan. Certain key officials, including the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security, the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, General Counsel for DHS, and Commissioner of Customs, are expected to be confirmed by the Senate by January 24, 2003. Also by that date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should have named, among other positions: an Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis, a Chief Information Officer, a Chief Human Capital Officer, an Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, a Director of Shared Services, and a Citizenship and Immigration Ombudsman. Further, by January 24, 2003, DHS should also establish the Bureau of Border Security, and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

By March 1, 2003, the DHS Secretary must transfer the Customs Service, the Transportation Security Administration, most functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Protective Service, the Office of Domestic Preparedness, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center into DHS. Other government agencies that must be transferred by this date include the Coast Guard, the United States Secret Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Domestic Preparedness Office of the FBI, and the Domestic Emergency Support Team of the Department of Justice.

Under the Plan, the Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis will be responsible for ensuring all information related to terrorism threats and suspected terrorists will be shared within DHS and throughout the federal, state, and local governmental divisions. Presumably, the sharing of information within DHS will include the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security, as well as the various other agencies under the DHS umbrella.

The Directorate of Border and Transportation Security will include the Bureau of Border Security, the Office for Domestic Preparedness, the Customs Service, the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and the Federal Protective Service. The Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security is responsible for preventing the entry of terrorists and the instruments of terrorism into the United States. The Under Secretary is also responsible for establishing and administering rules governing the granting of visas or other forms of entry permission, including parole, to anyone who is not a citizen or legal permanent resident. S/he will be responsible for establishing national immigration enforcement policies and priorities and carrying out immigration enforcement functions previously within the legal authority of, or performed by, the INS.

An Assistant Secretary for Border Security will establish and oversee the administration of policies for performing immigration enforcement functions. S/he will also advise the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security with respect to any policy or operation of the Bureau of Border Security that may affect the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration.

The duties of the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (the "Director") are listed under the "Other Officers and Functions" Section of the Plan, giving the uncomfortable impression that this Bureau is not considered important enough to merit its own section. This Bureau will have responsibility for what were previously the "benefits" functions of the INS, i.e. processing of applications / petitions that are so important to our clients and readers. The Director will report directly to the Deputy Secretary and will be responsible for establishing the policies for performing the functions with which s/he is charged. The Director will be responsible for oversight of the administration of such policies and for advising the Deputy Secretary with respect to any policy or operation of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services that may affect the Bureau of Border Security of the Department. For example, there is a potential for conflicting policies or operations. The Director must establish national immigration service policies and priorities; meet regularly with the Citizenship and Immigration Ombudsman to correct serious service problems identified by the Ombudsman; and establish procedures requiring a formal response to any recommendations submitted in the Ombudsman's annual report to Congress. The Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman will also report directly to the Deputy Secretary. S/he will be responsible for assisting individuals and employers in resolving problems with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, identifying areas in which individuals and employers have problems in dealing with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and proposing changes in the administrative policies of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to mitigate identified problems.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy looks forward to the challenge of working with the relevant bureaus of the new DHS as they begin functioning. The MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom will provide updates on relevant milestones during this conversion period and the implications of these changes to those seeking immigration benefits.