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Department Of Homeland Security Essay

520 Words3 Pages

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was founded in 2002 in response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to prevent any future threat of terrorism that even slightly presented danger to American soil. Congress passed the Homeland Security act in 2002 which absorbed every agency at the time who was working in, “Response to disasters caused by terrorism, natural hazards, or technological hazards” (Haddow 331). Among other agencies, the DHS assumed responsibility over other agencies who presided over the borders and ports as well as those responsible for immigration and citizenship. After reviewing the Brief Documentary History of the Department of Homeland Security, there is not one mention of natural disasters …show more content…

FEMA’s mission and priorities were changed so that, “terrorism prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery became central to the emergency management mission” (Haddow 325). As a result of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 the country’s focus shifted completely from natural disasters to an outright major assault on all things terrorism with no second glance at the potential emergency’s natural disasters presented. There might be a possibility that because of the nation’s extreme obsession with terrorists and terrorism that Hurricane Katrina was not given full priority nor given as much thought as it should have been because the whole focus of the government was on terrorism. When an agency and governmental structure, such as the defense agencies, undergoes an extreme shift within the course of a few years brought on so suddenly, there are bound to be weaknesses. Hurricane Katrina was the most challenging threat that tested the DHS as well as FEMA’s preparation and mitigation of natural disasters since the shift of focus. Ultimately, the entire government failed the people affected by Hurricane Katrina and are still handling the terrible situation to this day. Had the captivation and focus not been so hard on terrorism, I believe that

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