The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Julie Lyn Myers Wood is an American prosecutor and former government official. She was the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She assumed the job following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush on January 4, 2006. Previously, Myers worked for the Office of Independent Counsel under Kenneth Starr and was a lead prosecutor in the Independent Counsel's failed case against Susan McDougal.
Philip Jonathan Perry is an American attorney and was a political appointee during the George W. Bush administration, where he was acting associate attorney general at the Department of Justice, general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, and general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security.
Hugo Teufel III is an American lawyer and former government official.
Alan D. Bersin served as the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Commissioner Bersin was appointed by President Barack Obama on March 27, 2010 as a recess appointment. As Commissioner, Mr. Bersin oversaw the operations of CBP’s 57,000-employee work force and managed an operating budget of more than $11 billion. Bersin formerly served as the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs, informally known as the "Border Czar." Bersin later served as Assistant Secretary of International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, a position he assumed on January 3, 2012 and held until January 2017.
The deputy secretary of homeland security is the chief operating officer of the United States Department of Homeland Security, with responsibility for managing day-to-day operations. The department has over 208,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $48.5 billion.
Jane Holl Lute is an American diplomat and security analyst currently serving as the UN special envoy on the Cyprus dispute. She served as the deputy secretary of homeland security from 2009 through 2013, after having been confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 3, 2009. Previously, Lute was the United Nations assistant secretary-general for peacebuilding support. Before that, she was assistant secretary-general for mission support in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, beginning in August 2003. She is the president and CEO of the Arlington-based Council on CyberSecurity and senior advisor to Measure, a drone-as-a-service company. On January 5, 2014, she was appointed special adviser for relocation of Camp Hurriya residents outside of Iraq by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. On February 8, 2016, she was appointed special coordinator on improving the United Nations response to sexual exploitation and abuse. In 2020, Lute was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Arif Alikhan is a former senior official with the U.S. Department of Justice who has served in several high-level law enforcement and homeland security positions with the federal government and City of Los Angeles. He was also the Deputy Executive Director for homeland security, law enforcement, and fire/EMS at Los Angeles World Airports. He was appointed to the new position in October 2011 and is responsible for the 1,200 sworn police officers and civilian security officers that protect Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport, and Van Nuys Airport. He is also responsible for all fire and emergency medical services at LAWA's three airports. Alikhan is a former distinguished professor of homeland security and counterterrorism at the National Defense University (NDU), College of International Security Affairs in Washington, D.C. He teaches and lectures on a variety subjects involving homeland and national security issues for U.S. military and civilian security professionals. and is a recognized expert on U.S. government homeland security and counter terrorism policies.
The Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis is a high-level civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Under Secretary, as head of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at DHS, is the principal staff assistant and adviser to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security for fusing law enforcement and intelligence information relating to terrorism and other critical threats.
David Peter Pekoske is an American government official and retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral who has served as the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security Administration in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2017. He served as the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security from April to November 2019 and again from January to June 2021. From January 20, 2021 to February 2, 2021 he served as acting secretary of homeland security, during the Senate confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas. Pekoske retired with 33 years of active military service in 2010 as the 26th vice commandant of the Coast Guard.
Ivan Kenneth Fong is an American attorney who was general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security. He was general counsel of 3M company from October 2012 until February 2022, when he became executive vice president, general counsel and secretary at Medtronic.
Chad Fredrick Wolf is an American former government official and lobbyist who was named the acting United States secretary of homeland security in November 2019. His appointment was ruled unlawful in November 2020. Wolf was also the under secretary of homeland security for strategy, policy, and plans from 2019 to 2021.
Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas is an American attorney and government official who is the 7th United States Secretary of Homeland Security, serving since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Mayorkas previously served as director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013, and the 6th Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2016.
Elaine Costanzo Duke is an American civil servant and former United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, serving from April 10, 2017 until April 15, 2018. She became acting Secretary of Homeland Security on July 31, 2017, when John F. Kelly assumed the office of White House Chief of Staff. She left the acting position on December 6, 2017, upon the confirmation of Kirstjen Nielsen.
Sarah Ruth Saldana is an American attorney who served as the fourth director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from December 23, 2014, until January 20, 2017, under President Barack Obama. She was the first Latina and the second woman to hold the position of ICE director. Previously she had served as Assistant U.S. Attorney, then U.S. Attorney, for the Northern District of Texas.
David Lutz Norquist is an American financial management professional and former government official who served as the 34th United States deputy secretary of defense from 2019 to 2021. In May of 2022, Norquist was selected as the president and chief executive officer of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
Beginning in 2019, multiple appointments of acting officials in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were questioned, on the basis of whether the appointments were legal under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. After the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019, the Trump administration did not formally nominate a new secretary to be confirmed by the Senate, relying on acting postings.
Alan D. Cohn is an American lawyer and former government official who served as Assistant Secretary for Strategy, Planning, Analysis & Risk in the United States Department of Homeland Security Office of Policy from 2012 to 2015.
Jonathan Eugene Meyer is an American lawyer and government official who has served as the sixth general counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security since 2021.
