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People gather to protest in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in downtown Portland, Oregon

Reining in DHS in the Wake of Portland

On the morning of July 4, federal officers and police clashed with protesters who had begun demonstrating in Portland, Oregon, in the aftermath of the unjustified police killing of George Floyd. Quickly, videos surfaced of unidentified federal officers using excessive force and unmarked vehicles to arrest protesters, seemingly without cause. These officers turned out to be U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel redirected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—without the consent of state and local authorities—to perform a domestic law enforcement function that is outside their areas of responsibility, expertise, and training.

Since the creation of DHS 18 years ago in the wake of 9/11, there have been many warning signs about dysfunction and a culture of abuse within its ranks. There is a history of malicious behavior, including a lack of accountability for repeated abuses by ICE and CBP personnel; killings along and across the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting from the unjustified use of force, that have been allowed to go unpunished; families separated at the border and children dying in custody; and more. Deploying ICE and CBP to Portland in response to the protests following the murders of Black people at hands of the police was only the latest on this list.

While a full top-to-bottom review of the department's mission, structure, authorities, and oversight is critically needed, in the interim, there are key steps that the next administration and Congress must take immediately. Here are five steps that the next administration and Congress should take right away to rein in the department and prevent its personnel from being used in the future as a federal police force.

In the Spotlight

Blunting Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a bilateral meeting at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 2017

In 2016, Russia successfully undermined the sanctity of U.S. citizens' ability to choose their own leader free and clear of influence from foreign actors. Russia's interference in the 2016 election has been extensively studied, most recently in a bipartisan report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. While several outstanding questions remain, it is clear that the interference didn't end in 2016. Russia's multifaceted attack continued with the 2018 midterms, and there is every reason to believe that similar, and potentially even more robust, efforts are underway for future elections.

The good news, however, is that actions can be taken to help secure against and mitigate the impact of foreign interference in U.S. electoral processes. In a new report, the Center for American Progress' national security experts offer concrete lessons that U.S. officials can learn from Russia's meddling and specific steps that should be taken between now and any future elections to shield the vote from foreign interference.

Read more »

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