MISSIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS)

Department of Homeland Security includes the US Border and Customs agency responsible for issuingESTAs. We present this agency through its history, organization and missions.

THE ORIGINS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Given the context, it’s easy to imagine that the aim of this governmental entity is to protect American territory against any type of attack or threat.

Eleven days after the terrorist attacks, the governor of Pennsylvania was promoted to First Secretary of Homeland Security by the White House (the U.S. President at the time was George W. Bush).

The Department of Homeland Security was officially created in November 2002, following ratification of the Homeland Security Act. The Department unified and brought under its umbrella 22 federal agencies involved in homeland security. It took up its duties within the US government in March 2003.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

The Secretary of Homeland Security and his deputy head the Department of Homeland Security. They are assisted by a Chief of Staff, an Executive Secretary and a Military Advisor.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security coordinates 24 agencies, enabling it to take action in fields as diverse as anti-terrorism, border protection, immigration and customs, cybersecurity and natural disaster prevention and management.

It also relies on the NTAS (National Terrorism Advisory System), a system for disseminating information to the public and the authorities. This system is based on two levels:

• bulletins for the dissemination of general information on US safety;
• alerts issued in the event of a threat or attack. Alerts can be high, i.e. the threat is real, but information is still missing, or imminent, when the threat is identified and (as the name suggests) imminent.
  

MISSIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

The Department of Homeland Security is a public administration of the federal government that is not the equivalent of the Department of Defense as one might think. Its field of action is not so much military, but rather civilian. The idea is to defend the USA from within: to anticipate, protect, act and rebuild.

The 5 core missions of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are :

• preventing terrorist attacks by increasing security and controlling the procurement and management of chemical, biological and nuclear agents;
• protection and management of land, air and sea borders. Control of entry to the USA via visas issued by American embassies andESTA authorization issued by US Customs and Border;
• implementing and strengthening immigration laws;
• cybersecurity ;
• management of terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other large-scale emergencies (FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency).
  

LINK BETWEEN ESTA AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

As you can see, the United States of America takes the protection of its territory very seriously. To ensure that your stay in the United States lives up to your expectations, we strongly recommend that you comply with the laws in force, particularly in terms of immigration. We remind you that French nationals can easily make short tourist and business trips to the USA by requesting ESTA travel authorization on our platform.

The ESTA is part of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Nationals of countries participating in the VWP can travel to the United States without a visa, provided they receive ESTA authorization.

Participation in the VWP is not the only requirement. Applicants must also :

• not to have Iraqi, Iranian, Syrian or Sudanese nationality as their other nationality;
• have a passport valid for the duration of the stay; it must also be an electronic or biometric passport;
• travel to the USA for a short-term stay, which must not exceed 90 days;
• answer correctly (according to the criteria of the American authorities) to the questionnaire completing the ESTA form;
• not to have visited Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia or Sudan since March 01, 2011.

To be accepted, an ESTA application must be reviewed by US Customs and Border Protection. This agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and assists the department in its mission to protect borders in line with the government’s immigration policy.