Section 2 · The Common Defense
🛂Ch. 5 — Department of Homeland Security
DHS · 15 tracked
Dismantle DHS into Cabinet-level border/immigration department
Proposed
Mandate’s primary recommendation is legislation dismantling DHS and combining CBP, ICE, USCIS, HHS ORR, and DOJ EOIR/OIL into a standalone Cabinet-level border and immigration agency (100,000+ employees).
Scatter CISA, FEMA, Coast Guard, Secret Service; privatize TSA
Proposed
Mandate would move CISA to DOT, FEMA to Interior or DOT, Coast Guard to DOJ or DoD, split Secret Service between DOJ and Treasury, privatize TSA, and shift S&T/CWMD elsewhere.
Return CISA to narrow statutory mission; end ‘speech/election’ role
Proposed
Mandate claims CISA was weaponized to censor speech and affect elections and should return to a statutory, important but narrow cyber/critical-infrastructure mission.
Eliminate DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis
Proposed
Mandate recommends eliminating I&A as duplicative and politically weaponized, absorbing select functions/personnel into the National Operations Center and leaving component intel shops (CBP, TSA, CISA with NSA/CYBERCOM) to produce their own assessments.
Use novel acting appointments and political-only succession
Proposed
Mandate urges placing nominees into acting dual roles during confirmation, removing some PAS requirements by statute, and legislating a durable political-only line of succession that skips career officials and lets acting Secretaries finalize regulations.
‘Soft close’ DHS offices and redistribute career staff to enforcement
Proposed
Mandate tells the Secretary to soft-close ineffective corners, shift personnel/funding to the Secretary and mission-essential components, and immediately move all law-enforcement-capable staff from office billets to field billets.
Condition FEMA grants on immigration cooperation and E-Verify
Proposed
Mandate directs FEMA to require grant applicants to certify immigration-law compliance, honor detainers, use E-Verify government-wide, and share DMV/voter data—or be ineligible (except some disaster/nonhumanitarian funds).
Cease H-2B cap increases and related guest-worker flexibilities
Proposed
Mandate instructs the Secretary to stop using discretionary authority to raise H-2B visas above the statutory cap and not to issue regulations favoring H-2 eligible country lists.
Restart horse-mounted Border Patrol; limit CBP NTAs; kill NTRs
Proposed
Mandate calls for restarting/expanding horseback Border Patrol with apology and record-clearing for prior whip allegations, combining BP with Air and Marine, limiting CBP Notices to Appear, and eliminating Notices to Report.
Eliminate T/U visas, end ICE sensitive-zone limits, expand 287(g)
Proposed
Mandate directs ICE to stop case closures, honor 287(g) hits, eliminate T and U visas (use S visa instead), rescind sensitive-zone memos, operationalize Blackie’s warrants, and seek large detention/ERO expansions.
Remake USCIS as vetting/enforcement agency with denaturalization push
Proposed
Mandate would return USCIS from ‘open borders’ to screening/vetting, reimplement denaturalization, create USCIS criminal enforcement with SAUSAs, audit/rescind Biden policies, and reverse key rules (credible fear, public charge, etc.).
Legislate end of diversity lottery, chain migration; mandate E-Verify; cabin parole
Proposed
Mandate’s USCIS legislative agenda includes repealing the diversity visa lottery, ending chain migration beyond nuclear family, replacing employment visas with a skills system, permanently mandating E-Verify, and ending parole abuse via statute.
Privatize National Flood Insurance; shift disaster costs; cut DHS grants
Proposed
Mandate lists privatizing FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, shifting most preparedness/response costs to states/localities, eliminating most DHS grant programs, and removing DHS unions for national security.
Consolidate CBP and ICE into Border Security and Immigration Agency
Proposed
Absent full DHS breakup, Mandate proposes consolidating ICE and CBP into a Border Security and Immigration Agency (BSIA), with clear mission lines and IC participation for ICE/HSI and CBP.
Codify single nationwide detention standard for CBP/ICE facilities
Proposed
Mandate seeks one nationwide detention standard for CBP/ICE to replace jurisdiction-varying TED standards that it says impair operations, while requesting budgets that fully fund detention/processing.