The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a department of the federal government of the United States of America. Set up in 2002, following the introduction of the Homeland Security Act, the DHS’s main objective is to ensure the country’s internal security. To this end, he oversees a dozen government agencies, each with their own specific missions.
The missions of the Department of Homeland Security
The primary mission of the DHS is to protect the American nation against all forms of threat. It evolves in a wide variety of sectors, such as border protection, aviation, cybersecurity and more. This organization requires a phenomenal budget: The Biden-Harris administration has submitted the President’s FY 2025 budget to Congress, which includes $62.2 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The DHS has 5 main missions:
- preventing terrorism and strengthening security ;
- securing borders ;
- enforcement of immigration rules ;
- protecting virtual space ;
- prevention and protection against all types of disaster.
The organization of DHS
Today, the DHS comprises 14 government offices:
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
- Science and Technology Directorate;
- Federal Emergency Management Agency;
- Management Directorate;
- National Cyber Security DivisionOffice of Cybersecurity and Communications);
- Federal Law Enforcement Training CenterFederal Law Enforcement Training Center;
- United States Coast Guard;
- Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office;
- Office of Intelligence and Analysis;
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services;
- United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
- United States Secret Service;
- Transportation Security Administration;
- Office of Operations Coordination.
For optimum performance, the DHS works closely with certain agencies in the intelligence community (CIA, FBI, NSA, etc.).
DHS and ESTA
As part of its primary mission to maintain homeland security, the DHS is responsible for monitoring all migratory flows within the United States. The DHS is also responsible for issuing ESTA authorizations.
What is ESTA?
ESTA is an electronic travel authorization that allows you to travel to the United States without a visa. It is issued only to citizens of Visa Waiver Program (VWP) member countries staying for a maximum of 90 days, for tourism, business or transit.
To ensure that foreign nationals applying for ESTA do not represent a danger to the country’s internal security, or that they do not wish to immigrate, the DHS has set up the ESTA form.
The ESTA form
This online ESTA form is available on the U.S. government’s official website.
To complete it, you are first asked to provide the traveler’s identity details from the ePassport or biometric passport. You will then need to fill in a few details about your stay in the United States. Finally, the form concludes with a questionnaire. These questions are essential for the Department of Homeland Security, as they enable direct identification of nationals posing a threat.
For example, we ask whether the traveler has any previous legal convictions, or has ever traveled to one of the Muslim Ban states (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen). If the ESTA applicant answers “yes” to at least one of the 9 questions, the Department of Homeland Security will reject the online application outright.
Through USCIS, the DHS is also responsible for issuing the famous Green Card permanent resident card.