	Introduction

As Congress weighs comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would likely include strengthened enforcement measures, a significant expansion of guest workers, and perhaps include increased levels of permanent immigration, some question whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can handle the increased immigration workload. In response to growing concerns that the immigration responsibilities and other important duties of DHS were not functioning effectively, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the Second Stage Review (2SR) to base work on priorities driven by risk. Currently, three agencies in DHS have important immigration functions: Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. In 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that many of the management problems that plagued the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) have carried over to the three DHS immigration agencies. This report focuses on the management and administration element. 5005 ); place all of INS in DHS in its own Directorate of Immigration Affairs, which would have two separate bureaus for the enforcement and service functions, with border inspections as a stand-alone and dual-function entity within the Directorate of Immigration Affairs (Senate substitute); or, place INS's enforcement functions in the DHS Bureau of Border Security and INS's service functions in the DHS Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (House-passed H.R. In seven of the eight workload measures analyzed above, the immigration workload has declined since 2001. Only the removal of aliens has surpassed levels prior to the reorganization of the immigration functions. While several key workload trends are inching upward—notably, border apprehensions and immigration adjudications—other workload trends have declined or remained flat. The Assistant Secretary of ICE, the Commissioner of CBP, and the Director of USCIS all serve on a parity under the Secretary of DHS. Of these, only the Director of USCIS has responsibilities that are exclusively immigration. While the Secretary of DHS is the lead cabinet officer on immigration issues, he shares substantial immigration policymaking roles with the Attorney General, who oversees the EOIR immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Secretary of State, who oversees the Bureaus of Consular Affairs and of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Thus far, independent assessments of the functioning of immigration in DHS have centered on problems rather than successes. Indeed, the GAO has concluded that many of the management problems that plagued the former INS remain with the DHS organizational structure. The underlying question remains whether a sufficient length of time has elapsed to assess DHS's efficacy in managing immigration policy.
As Congress weighs comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would likely include additional border and interior enforcement, a significant expansion of guest workers, and perhaps include increased levels of permanent immigration, some question whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can handle the increased immigration workload. There are concerns that the immigration responsibilities in the DHS are not functioning effectively. DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a "Second Stage Review" (2SR) in 2005 that includes strengthening border security and interior enforcement and reforming immigration processes as major agenda items. Currently, three agencies in DHS have important immigration functions: Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The immigration functions are dispersed across three agencies within DHS. The Assistant Secretary of ICE, the Commissioner of CBP, and the Director of USCIS all serve with the same rank directly under the DHS Secretary. Of these, only the Director of USCIS has responsibilities that are exclusively immigration. While the DHS Secretary is the lead cabinet officer on immigration issues, he shares substantial immigration policymaking roles with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State.
Some now argue the disaggregation of the government's immigration responsibilities across several agencies has weakened immigration as a policy priority and has made it much more difficult for the executive branch to develop a comprehensive immigration reform and border security strategy. Others maintain that the current organizational structure sharpens the focus on the key, yet disparate, immigration functions and is optimal from a homeland security perspective.
In seven of the eight workload measures analyzed over the past decade in this report, the immigration workload has declined in recent years. Only removals of aliens has surpassed levels prior to the restructuring of immigration responsibilities. While several key workload trends—notably, border apprehensions and immigration adjudications—are inching upward, the workload trends in asylum, inspections, naturalization, criminal prosecutions, and work site enforcement have declined or remained flat.
Thus far, independent assessments of the functioning of immigration in DHS have centered on problems rather than successes. Indeed, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has concluded that many of the management problems that existed before the restructuring of the federal immigration functions still remain. An underlying question is whether a sufficient length of time has elapsed to assess DHS's efficacy in managing immigration policy. This report does not track legislation and will not be regularly updated.