As America reflects on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11, two former heads of the Department of Homeland Security argue the agency created in the aftermath of the attacks needs a dramatic “reset” after becoming politically “radioactive” in the Trump years. As a result of this mission drift, the former official argued, the agency risked “becoming complacent” in the face of changing domestic threats against America. Recent years, for instance, have seen a spike in political violence and attacks on politicians from both parties.
Meanwhile, Michael Chertoff, who led DHS during the Bush administration, argued immigration policy should prioritize arresting individuals who pose large security threats, rather than the Trump administration’s more sweeping mass deportation strategy. The ex-secretaries are calling for DHS to streamline its mission to focus on security issues, while sending other non-related agencies to different parts of the government. The officials also argued for placing immigration prosecutors and arresting officers within separate agencies.
The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign has faced countless legal challenges and mass protests in cities facing large DHS deployments over the last year-and-a-half, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. About half of Americans support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS agency, a July poll from The Economist and YouGov found. Between 2023 and 2025, Americans ceased viewing DHS as generally favorable, the Pew Research Center found.
In the wake of DHS agents fatally shooting two American protesters in Minneapolis in January, the Trump administration installed a new DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, and promised a more measured approached. The agency has backed off mass, military-style immigration campaigns in cities, though it has continued to notch record arrest levels throughout the summer. Elsewhere at DHS, the Trump administration considered shuttering FEMA, though it has since pivoted to a sweeping reorganization instead.
Throughout the Trump administration, security-related agencies such as the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives have reassigned staff to assist in immigration cases. In a statement to The Independent, DHS defended its mission and criticized the Biden administration’s more permissive immigration policies. It also accused the Biden-era Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is part of DHS, of “censorship, branding, and electioneering.” “Counterterrorism and immigration enforcement go hand in hand,” a spokesperson said.
DHS has been recruiting, reforming, and modernizing at a record pace—including in areas of counterterrorism,” the spokesperson added. Under the Trump administration, there were more deaths in ICE custody than there had been in decades. The Obama and Bush administrations faced controversies of their own over DHS.
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