Department of Homeland Security

Key Reports

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began operations in March 2003 with the mission to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce vulnerabilities, minimize damage from attacks, and aid in recovery efforts, while also facilitating legitimate travel, migration, and trade. GAO has evaluated many of DHS’s programs and management functions since its establishment and has issued more than 400 products on major departmental programs in the areas of border security and immigration; transportation security; defense against, preparedness for, and response to threats and disasters; customs trade and revenue functions; and the department’s management functions. Although DHS has taken actions to strengthen its efforts in these and other areas, it has much to do to ensure that it conducts its missions efficiently and effectively while simultaneously working to address future challenges affecting the nation.

Figure 1: U.S. 90 Bridge in Biloxi, Mississippi,

Source: GAO.

Figure 2: Port of Los Angeles

Source: United States Coast Guard.

Since 2003, GAO has designated the implementation and transformation of DHS as high risk because it represented an enormous undertaking, and transformation would require time to achieve in an effective and efficient manner.
In achieving its critical mission, DHS has not fully adopted risk-based principles in allocating resources to the areas of greatest need or established effective policies and procedures for sharing terrorism-related information with other federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector.
In the emergency management area, DHS faces continued challenges in clearly defining leadership roles and responsibilities, developing necessary disaster response capabilities, and establishing accountability systems to provide effective response while also protecting against waste, fraud, and abuse.
While DHS has enhanced security procedures and immigration services, the department continues to face challenges in detecting and interdicting the illegal flow of persons and cargo entering the country through ports of entry; identifying and removing undocumented aliens from the country; denying unauthorized aliens the ability to obtain employment; and providing immigration services to eligible aliens in a timely fashion.
Although DHS has focused attention on securing commercial aviation and seaports, it continues to face challenges in addressing evolving and credible threats to these modes and in determining how best to allocate finite resources across the transportation sector.
Continued attention is needed to strengthen the security of the nation’s cyber and other critical infrastructure, requiring strengthened partnerships between the federal government, state and local governments, and the private sector.
Although the department has made progress in transforming its 22 agencies into an effective, integrated organization, DHS has not yet developed a comprehensive management integration strategy, and its management systems and functions are not yet fully integrated or wholly operational.

^ Back to topKey Reports

Transportation Security: Efforts to Strengthen Aviation and Surface Transportation Security Continue to Progress, but More Work Remains: GAO-08-651T, April 15, 2008; Summary (HTML) Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 26 pages) Accessible Text

Department of Homeland Security: Progress Made in Implementation of Management Functions, but More Work Remains: GAO-08-646T, April 9, 2008; Summary (HTML) Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 17 pages) Accessible Text

Department of Homeland Security: Progress Report on Implementation of Mission and Management Functions: GAO-07-454, August 17, 2007; Summary (HTML) Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 328 pages) Accessible Text

High Risk Series: An Update: GAO-07-310, January 31, 2007; Summary (HTML) Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 98 pages) Accessible Text

National Response Framework: FEMA Needs Policies and Procedures to Better Integrate Non-Federal Stakeholders in the Revision Process: GAO-08-768, June 11, 2008; Summary (HTML) Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 42 pages) Accessible Text Recommendations (HTML)

Border Security: Despite Progress, Weaknesses in Traveler Inspections Exist at Our Nation's Ports of Entry: GAO-08-219, November 5, 2007; Summary (HTML) Highlights Page (PDF) Full Report (PDF, 72 pages) Accessible Text