Homeland Security- Legal and Ethical Issues

Homeland Security- Legal and Ethical Issues
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Homeland Security- Legal and Ethical Issues
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plays a critical role in coordinating with other agencies to deter terrorism and other crimes across the United States. Since the terrorist attack of 11th September 2001, homeland security agents have conducted surveillance of immigrants to the United States and entry of goods. The department identifies all the dangers to national security (Lahneman, 2018). DHS prevents terrorism and all other risks to the critical infrastructures through continuous monitoring and information gathering. In the process of enhancing the United States’ safety, the department monitors phone conversations, movements, and internet data, thus, raising ethical and legal issues. A key concern is whether the DHS’s policies in addressing terrorism are justifiable. Some human rights activists argue that surveillance violates civil liberties for the citizens. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a long history of violating immigrants’ human and civil rights who lack the power to access justice.
Privacy Concerns
Privacy concern is a major ethical issue related to the Department of Homeland Security operations. Following the 9/11 terrorist attack, the Bush administration enacted Patriot Act through Congress, intending to conduct surveillance to prevent terrorism and illegal immigration (Resnik & Elliott, 2019). As a result, the department would gather private data from the general public even without their knowledge. A major issue that affects the DHS is that despite the need to combat terrorism, the Patriot Act accords law enforcement agencies’ excessive power that might violate the citizens' fundamental rights and ethical standards.
Besides, speculative threat assessment and surveillance have devastating impacts on the DHS. Through leadership and information gathering, DHS officials might jeopardize the privacy of targeted communities. According to U.S senate investigations, federal counterterrorism efforts undermine the citizens’ civil liberties (Resnik & Elliott, 2019). In travel and immigration, the DHS utilizes automated strategies from a wide range of datasets that subjects citizens to violate their privacy rights. In the future, DHS will have to consider revising its surveillance efforts to address privacy issues that pose major threats to the United States. In resolving the ethical issues related to privacy concerns, the DHS should train the border control agents to uphold professional standards and personal conduct during intelligence and information gathering.
Immigration Quotas
DHS commits towards preventing illegal entry to the United States across the borders. In such a case, the agency detains unlawful immigrants as strategies to deter terror attacks. However, such a security strategy is a violation of human rights. Besides, the federal government implemented a security measure of imprisoning illegal immigrants. Border enforcement programs, such as Operation Streamline, worsen the criminalization crisis by subjecting immigrants at the U.S-Mexico border to criminal sentencing and prosecution (Lahneman, 2018)...