# Department of Homeland Security *Cabinet-level U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security.* The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the federal executive department of the United States charged with public security. Its remit covers counterterrorism, civil defense, immigration and customs, border control, cybersecurity, transportation and maritime security, sea rescue, and the mitigation of weapons of mass destruction.[^1] The department was created under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, enacted in response to the September 11 attacks, and it started operating on March 1, 2003.[^2] With a workforce above 240,000, it is the third-largest Cabinet department, behind Defense and Veterans Affairs.[^1] In this record, DHS appears through one at-issue item, AI-Sherburne-006. The item records that a DHS congressional notification dated March 26, 2018 lists up to 300 beds at $100 per man-day under the [[National Detention Standards of 2000]], rather than the 2011 standards.[^3] The item describes the 2011 standards as "the more protective 2011 standards".[^3] The source documents the item lists are not among the URLs available to this article; see the note on sourcing below.[^3] ## Who The department is led by the secretary of homeland security, who is assisted by a deputy secretary.[^4] Its predecessor, the White House Office of Homeland Security, was headed by Tom Ridge, a former Pennsylvania [[governor]], who took the title Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and started work as director on October 8, 2001.[^2] Wikipedia's list of secretaries runs from Tom Ridge (January 24, 2003 – February 1, 2005) through Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano, Jeh Charles Johnson, John F. Kelly, Kirstjen M. Nielsen, Alejandro Mayorkas and Kristi Noem (January 25, 2025 – March 31, 2026), to Markwayne Mullin (March 24, 2026 – present).[^5] The same section says there have been eight confirmed secretaries, but it lists nine names.[^5] Nielsen's listed tenure, December 6, 2017 – April 10, 2019, includes the March 26, 2018 date of the notification in the at-issue record.[^5][^3] ## What DHS operates in the civilian sphere, while the Department of Defense handles military action abroad. Wikipedia gives the department's stated goal as preparing for, preventing and responding to domestic emergencies, with terrorism foremost.[^6] When DHS took over the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service on March 1, 2003, it split their enforcement and services work between two new agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services. The investigative units of the two services became Homeland Security Investigations, and the border functions were folded into U.S. Customs and Border Protection.[^6] ## When Congress passed the Homeland Security Act on November 25, 2002, bringing executive-branch homeland security organizations under one Cabinet agency.[^2] In January 2003, the White House office was superseded, though not replaced, by DHS and the Homeland Security Council, both created by the 2002 Act.[^2] In 2011, DHS retired the color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System and replaced it with the two-level National Terrorism Advisory System.[^7] The congressional notification in the at-issue record is dated March 26, 2018.[^3] ## Where DHS had its temporary headquarters at the Nebraska Avenue Complex in Washington, D.C., a former naval facility. The site covers 38 acres and has 32 buildings.[^8] In early 2007, the department sent Congress a $4.1 billion plan to bring its more than 60 Washington-area offices together on the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Anacostia.[^8] In February 2015, the [[General Services Administration]] gave 2021 as the opening year. Headquarters staff began moving to St. Elizabeths in April 2019, after the Center Building renovation was finished.[^8] ## How much The at-issue record states that the 2018 notification set a rate of $100 per man-day.[^3] Wikipedia reports a congressional estimate, as of September 2008, that roughly $15 billion had been lost in failed DHS contracts. It also reports that Government Accountability Office audits of employee credit-card use led to the department being blamed for up to $2 billion of waste and fraud.[^9] ## How many According to Wikipedia, seventy percent of DHS employees are classed as essential and are not furloughed during government shutdowns.[^10] The department's seal shows 22 stars, one for each of the original entities combined to form the department.[^11] The 2018 notification in the at-issue record covers up to 300 beds.[^3] ## In the at-issue record Item AI-Sherburne-006, from the record's Sherburne jail package, says the DHS notification of March 26, 2018 recorded the arrangement "in one line": up to 300 beds, $100 per man-day, and the National Detention Standards of 2000.[^3] The item states that the notification exists because federal law requires Congress to be told when a facility will be held to the older standards.[^3] The item also records that the county accepted the rate and that the 2000 standard came with it.[^3] The department's description of itself can be set beside this output. A DHS text of June 6, 2003, quoted on Wikipedia, calls the seal symbolic of "the Department's mission – to prevent attacks and protect Americans".[^11] The 2018 notification places a contracted facility under the older of the two detention standards named in the record.[^3] The record shows that the rate and the standard appear together in a single federal notification. It does not establish who selected the 2000 standard or on what grounds.[^3] The item is flagged as resting on a federal primary document. Its listed sources are agency and contract documents on dhs.gov and ice.gov, none of which is among the URLs available to this article.[^3] The item's listed anchor URL is a May 2026 presidential action titled *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System*. That document does not contain the 2018 notification, so it is not cited here as a source for it.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, lead (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — DHS's public-security remit and listed missions; more than 240,000 employees; third-largest Cabinet department after Defense and Veterans Affairs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^2]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, lead and section *History* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — formation under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 in response to the September 11 attacks; operations from March 1, 2003; Office of Homeland Security under Tom Ridge, director from October 8, 2001; Act of November 25, 2002; January 2003 supersession by DHS and the Homeland Security Council. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^3]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *AI-Sherburne-006* (Sherburne package; item dated 2018-03-26) — records the DHS congressional notification of March 26, 2018: up to 300 beds at $100 per man-day under the National Detention Standards of 2000 rather than the 2011 standards; states the notification's statutory reason. The item's listed sources (dhs.gov; ice.gov) are not in this pack's allowed URLs. Its listed anchor, the White House presidential action *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (2026-05), does not contain the notification and is not cited for it. No source URL is available. [^4]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *Organizational structure* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — DHS headed by the secretary of homeland security, assisted by the deputy secretary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^5]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *Secretaries* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — list of secretaries with tenure dates, including Nielsen (December 6, 2017 – April 10, 2019); the text says eight confirmed secretaries and lists nine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^6]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *Function* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — civilian mission and stated goal; March 1, 2003 absorption of Customs and INS; creation of ICE, USCIS, HSI and CBP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^7]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *National Terrorism Advisory System* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — 2011 replacement of the Homeland Security Advisory System by the two-level NTAS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^8]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *Headquarters* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — Nebraska Avenue Complex; 2007 $4.1 billion consolidation plan for St. Elizabeths; GSA's February 2015 opening estimate of 2021; staff moves from April 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^9]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *Criticism* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — congressional estimate of roughly $15 billion lost in failed contracts as of September 2008; GAO credit-card audits and up to $2 billion attributed waste and fraud. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^10]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *Disaster preparedness and response* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — seventy percent of DHS employees considered essential and not furloughed in shutdowns. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security [^11]: Wikipedia, *United States Department of Homeland Security*, section *Seal* (revision 1382271628, retrieved 2026-10-27) — DHS text of June 6, 2003 describing the seal as symbolic of the Department's mission; 22 stars for the original 22 entities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security