Project 2025 Chapter 5: The Department of Homeland Security - A Summary
Chapter 5: The Department of Homeland Security
by Ken Cuccinelli
Background on Author
Ken Cuccinelli - served as the senior official performing the duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) from 2019 to 2021. He also served as Principal Deputy and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during the Trump administration.
Both of these positions were deemed illegal due to procedural steps the Trump administration didn’t follow. He was never confirmed by the Senate to run DHS and a U.S. District Judge in March 2020 found that his appointment as Acting Director of USCIS circumvented the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1989.
Cuccinelli was also the District Attorney of Virginia from 2010 to 2014 and was a member of the Virginia Senate.
While he was AG of Virginia he defended anti-sodomy laws and prohibitions on same sex marriage. Cuccinelli doesn’t believe in the scientific consensus on climate change and also used his position as AG to investigate climate scientists he accused of fraud.
Cuccinelli has supported the repeal of birthright citizenship, prohibiting undocumented immigrants from attending universities and forcing all employees to speak English in the workforce.
In July 2019, Cuccinelli blamed an asylum seeker for the asylum seeker's own death and that of his daughter who were found dead on the banks of the Rio Grande River. He said,
"The reason we have tragedies like that on the border is because those folks, that father didn't want to wait to go through the asylum process in the legal fashion, so decided to cross the river.”
Chapter Five
Abolish the Department of Homeland Security.
Our primary recommendation is that the President pursue legislation to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Recommendation:
Combine the following agencies to replace DHS
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE);
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)
Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL)
The new agency should cover all border and immigration at the Cabinet level (more than 100,000 employees, making it the third largest department measured by manpower).
Problems with DHS
DHS has suffered from the Left’s wokeness and weaponization against Americans whom the Left perceives as its political opponents.
Problems with CISA
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a DHS component that the Left has weaponized to censor speech and affect elections at the expense of securing the cyber domain and critical infrastructure, which are threatened daily.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SEC)
Increase the number of political appointees
Increase the number of “acting” officials to work around waiting for senate confirmation
Remove as many people as possible when a new administration comes to power.
Enact ‘soft closure’ of unnecessary offices within the DHS
Any personnel with law enforcement capacity should be removed from any desk job and moved to field billets.
Codify Detention Standards
A single nationwide detention standard should be codified that prevents individual states from mandating that federal government agencies adhere to widely expansive and ever-changing sets of standards. Such standards should allow the flexibility to use large numbers of temporary facilities such as tents.
U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE)
Needed Reforms
Order ICE to stop closing out pending immigration cases and apply the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as written by Congress.
The Biden Administration closed out tens of thousands of immigration cases that had already been prepared and were slated for expedited removal processing or hearings before the U.S. Immigration Court. This misguided action constituted an egregious example of lawlessness that allowed thousands of illegal aliens and other immigration violators to go free in the United States.
Direct ICE to stop ignoring criminal aliens identified through the 287(g) program.
Eliminate T and U visas.
U nonimmigrant visas provide legal status to victims of an enumerated list of “qualifying criminal activities” who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse, and possess information concerning that crime, and who have been, are being, or are likely to be helpful to law enforcement or government officials. (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
T nonimmigrant visas provide legal status to certain victims of human trafficking who assist law enforcement authorities in the investigation or prosecution of trafficking crimes. (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
Stop issuing as many bonds for aliens - just detain them.
Stop issuing as many Student Exchange Visitor Program visas (SEVP)
ICE should focus on cracking down on alien smuggling, trafficking and cross-border crime.
Arrest migrants without a warrant where appropriate, subject only to the civil warrant requirements of the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act) where appropriate.
Expedited Removal is currently limited to 100 miles of the border - Expedited Removal should apply to any alien in any location.
Get rid of “sensitive zones” where ICE personnel are currently prohibited from operating. Sensitive zones include - pre-schools, primary schools, secondary schools, post-secondary schools up to and including colleges and universities, and other institutions of learning such as vocational or trade schools); hospitals; churches, synagogues, mosques or other institutions of worship. (DHS)
Use of Blackies Warrants Should be Operational within ICE
Blackie’s Warrants refer to a previous lawsuit involving a workplace called Blackie’s House of Beef. The warrant simply confers blanket authority to 'locate aliens in the United States without legal authority.
Budget
Increase the number of daily beds in detention spaces to 100,000
Increase funding for 20,000 ERO (Enforcement Removal Operations) officers
Increase funding for 5,000 Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) attorneys
U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (USCIS)
Needed Reforms
Make it more difficult for anyone to apply for asylum
Prosecute more cases of immigration fraud
During a transition period, a complete audit of agency policies, memoranda, and management directives issued during the Biden Administration should be completed, and rescission documents should be prepared for issuance within the first few days of the incoming Administration.
New Policies
Focus on fraud detection
Management Directives and policies should not be pulled off mission work to focus on unlawful programs (DACA, mass parole for Afghans, Ukrainians, Venezuelans, etc.).
Return to the Trump administration public charge rules:
Temporary work visa reform
Employment authorization reform rules
Asylum bars rule
A third-country transit rule
Parole reform
Focus on a merit based system for any incoming migrants
Reward highly skilled aliens
Diversity visa lottery should be repealed
End chain migration
Focus on nuclear family.
Award visas to the best and brightest
Transform the H-1B program to an elite program to get top workers at the highest wages.
Budget - Migrants Should Pay Higher Fees
Increase all immigration fees for asylum seekers and immigrants
Eliminate fee waivers
Increase all fees by at least 10%
Introduce premium processing fees for a faster resolution for immigrants who can afford it
Any rejected applicant should be deported immediately due to backlogs of applications
In the case of backlogs in a given category issuing new applications should cease
Personnel
USCIS should be classified as a national security–sensitive agency, and all of its employees should be classified as holding national security–sensitive positions. The union should be decertified.
NECESSARY BORDER AND IMMIGRATION STATUTORY, REGULATORY, AND ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES
Legislative Proposals
Bring back Title 42
Congress should pass mandatory appropriation for border wall system infrastructure.
Congress should pass appropriations for Port of Entry infrastructure.
Unaccompanied minors
Congress should repeal Section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), which provides numerous immigration benefits to unaccompanied alien children.
All unaccompanied minors should be sent back to their home country. Currently the law allows only children from Canada and Mexico to be returned but this should be expanded to every country.
Congress must end the Flores Settlement Agreement. Families and children should be placed in tents if necessary. (the Flores Settlement Agreement is based on a lawsuit which set minimum standards for family and unaccompanied minor detention).
Congress should place alien children from the Department of Health and Human Services to DHS.
Asylum reform
The standard for a credible fear of persecution should be raised and aligned to the standard for asylum.
Codify former asylum bars and third-country transit rules.
Congress should eliminate the particular social group protected ground as vague and over broad - that gang violence and domestic violence are not grounds for asylum.
Parole reform.
Congress should halt funds given to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to process and transport illegal aliens into and throughout the United States.
Congress should ensure that Expedited Removal is used to the fullest extent
Bring back the Remain in Mexico program as needed to withstand judicial scrutiny and executive inaction.
Congress should mandate that the executive branch work faithfully to negotiate and execute Asylum Cooperative Agreements.
Congress should explicitly permit programs akin to the Prompt Asylum Claim Review (PACR) and Humanitarian Asylum Review Process (HARP) programs.
Employment authorization
Congress should reassert control of employment authorization
Congress should also permanently authorize E-Verify and make it mandatory.
State and local law enforcement
Congress should unequivocally authorize state and local law enforcement to participate in immigration and border security actions in compliance with Arizona v. United States.
Congress should require compliance with immigration detainers to the maximum extent consistent with the Tenth Amendment and set financial disincentives for jurisdictions that implement either official or unofficial sanctuary policies.
Prosecutorial discretion.
Congress should restrict the authority for prosecutorial discretion to eliminate it as a “catch-all” excuse for limiting immigration enforcement - make it easier to detain as many migrants as possible
Pathways for border crossers
Direct the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to reinstate Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Northern Triangle Countries immediately.
Recommence negotiations with Mexico to fully implement the Remain in Mexico Protocols.
Reinstate, to the extent possible, expedited pathways with full credible fear/immigration court process (Prompt Asylum Claim Review (PACR) and Humanitarian Asylum Review Process (HARP)).
Prohibit the use of Notices to Report (NTR), the use of any funds for travel into the interior of the United States, and government flights or transportation for aliens.
Mandate that ICE use all detention space in full compliance with Section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), issue weekly reports on detention capacity, and provide authority for low-level temporary capacity (for example, tents) once permanent space is full.
Eliminate the use of Alternatives to Detention (ATD) for border crossers except in rare cases and only with the explicit authority of the Secretary.
Prohibit the use of parole except in matters that are certified by the Secretary of Homeland Security as requiring action for humanitarian or significant public benefit reasons, and prohibit the use of parole in any categorical circumstance.
FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA)
Needed Reforms
Shift more of the responsibility to funding to covering disasters to the states and local governments
Congress should change the cost-share arrangement so that the federal government covers 25% of the costs for small disasters with the cost share reaching a maximum of 75% for truly catastrophic disasters.
Eliminate the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) - replace it with private insurance.
FEMA’s springing Cabinet positions should be eliminated - four of which are Senate-confirmed positions.
Ensure all FEMA grants only go to the following:
Certification by applicants that they comply with all aspects of federal immigration laws, including the honoring of all immigration detainers.
Certification by applicants that they are both registered with E-Verify and using E-Verify in a transparent and non-evasive manner.
If the applicant is a state or locality, commitment by that state or locality that FEMA needs access to department of motor vehicles and voter registration databases.
CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY (CISA)
Needed Reforms
CISA’s funding and resources should align narrowly with the foregoing two mission requirements.
Of the utmost urgency is immediately ending CISA’s counter-mis/disinformation efforts. The federal government cannot be the arbiter of truth. CISA began this work because of alleged Russian misinformation in the 2016 election, which in fact turned out to be a Clinton campaign “dirty trick.” The Intelligence Community, including the NSA or DOD, should counter foreign actors. At the time of this writing, release of the Twitter Files has demonstrated that CISA has devolved into an unconstitutional censoring and election engineering apparatus of the political Left. In any event, the entirety of the CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee should be dismissed on Day One.
For election security, CISA should help states and localities assess whether they have good cyber hygiene in their hardware and software in preparation for an election—but nothing more. This is of value to smaller localities, particularly by flagging who is attacking their websites. CISA should not be significantly involved closer to an election. Nor should it participate in messaging or propaganda.
U.S. COAST GUARD (USCG)
Needed Reforms
This chapter goes on for a while. The author basically advocates for the Coast Guard having more of a role to counter China’s influence. The U.S. Coast Guard should also build more ships and more money should be allocated for the Arctic mission.
Personnel
The Administration should stop the messaging on wokeness and diversity and focus instead on attracting the best talent for USCG. Simultaneously, consistent with the Department of Defense, USCG should also make a serious effort to re-vet any promotions and hiring that occurred on the Biden Administration’s watch while also re-onboarding any USCG personnel who were dismissed from service for refusing to take the COVID-19 “vaccine,”* with time in service credited to such returnees.
*Note that the author put the word vaccine in quotes
U.S. SECRET SERVICE (USSS)
Needed Reforms
The USSS protects both the president and conducts financial investigations including counterfeiting.
New Policies
USSS should transfer to the Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury all investigations that are not related to its protective function.
Begin the process of closing all field offices throughout the country and internationally to the extent they are not taken over by Treasury or Justice.
USSS agents stationed outside of Washington, D.C., should be transferred to work in Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices where they would continue to be the “boots on the ground” to follow up on threat reports throughout the country and liaise with local law enforcement for visits by protectees.
The only investigations not related to USSS’s protective function that agents should pursue would be directed by HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) and relate to tracking the financial crimes associated with illegal immigration.
USSS should keep visitor logs for all facilities where the President works or resides. The Biden Administration has evaded such transparency with President Biden spending a historic amount of time for a President at his Delaware residence. This has left the American people in the dark as to who is influencing the highest levels of their own government.
Personnel
Hire more uniform division (UD) of USSS
Uniformed officers should be able to ignore any progressive laws passed in the District of Columbia. (paraphrased from the original language in the document)
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA)
Privatize TSA.
The U.S. should copy the Canadian and European models which are already privatized.
Eliminate all TSA related unions
Airports should be able to choose their own security screening as long as they meet TSA guidelines.
AGENCY RELATIONSHIPS
Department of Health and Human Services: Agree to move the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)
Department of Defense: Assist in aggressively building the border wall system on America’s southern border. Additionally, explicitly acknowledge and adjust personnel and priorities to participate actively in the defense of America’s borders, including using military personnel and hardware to prevent illegal crossings between ports of entry and channel all cross-border traffic to legal ports of entry.
Department of Justice: Agree to move the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Office of Immigration Litigation to DHS and/or, alternatively, to treat the administrative law judges (immigration judges and Board of Immigration Appeals) as national security personnel, decertify their union, and move to increase hiring significantly to enable the processing of more immigration cases.
Department of State: Allow DHS to lead international engagement in the Western Hemisphere on issues of security and migration. Additionally, quickly and aggressively address recalcitrant countries’ failure to accept deportees by imposing stiff sanctions until deportees are in fact accepted for return (not just promised to be taken).
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Ensure that only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents utilize or occupy federally subsidized housing.
Department of Education: Deny loan access to those who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, and deny loan access to students at schools that provide in-state tuition to illegal aliens.
Department of Labor: Eliminate the two (of four) lowest wage levels for foreign workers.
Department of the Treasury: Implement all necessary regulations both to equalize taxes between American citizens and working visa holders and to provide DHS with all tax information of illegal aliens as expeditiously as possible.
Intelligence Community: Cooperate in the shrinking or elimination of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis role in the IC (Intelligence Community) while replacing it with CBP and Homeland Security Investigations representation to the IC.
Additional reforms
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis should be eliminated.
OGC (Office of the General Counsel) should advise principals as to how DHS can execute its missions within the law instead of advising principals as to why they cannot execute regulations, policies, and programs.
The Office of General Counsel should absorb both Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Privacy Office necessary functions and staff.
Replace The Entire Homeland Security Advisory Committee.
Investigate any evacuees from Afghanistan.
Executives of CBP and DHS Should Be Able to Use Government Planes to Travel
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Should Expand Horseback-mounted Border Patrol.
He is a modern day Girolamo Savonarola for a MAGA inquisition. I am surprised there isn’t a section for patches to be worn for undesirables like gay or trans people or liberal democrats or the Jews who support them.
Bone-chilling!