Homeland security

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Homeland Security)
Jump to: navigation, search
Military personnel have started to guard transportation facilities such as New York Penn Station as part of homeland security efforts.
Enlarge
Military personnel have started to guard transportation facilities such as New York Penn Station as part of homeland security efforts.

Homeland security or homeland defense is a neologism referring to domestic governmental actions justified by potential guerrilla attacks or terrorism. The term became prominent in the United States following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, although it was used less frequently before that incident.

Such domestic governmental actions include:

  • Emergency mobilization, including volunteer medical, police, and fire personnel
  • New domestic surveillance and spying efforts, particularly with respect to immigration, transportation, military installations, and utilities
  • Infrastructure protection
  • Border control

In the United States, the concept of homeland security extends and recombines responsibilities of much of the executive branch, including FBI, National Guard, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), United States Customs Service (now the United States Customs and Border Protection Service), Secret Service, Department of Justice, and the Central Intelligence Agency. The George W. Bush administration has consolidated these and many other such activities, formerly in separate Executive Departments, under the United States Department of Homeland Security, a new Executive Department created for these purposes.


See also

External links

Featuring news, editorials, blog links, and other commentary related to terrorism, homeland security, military operations and associated legal developments. A resource for terrorism experts and homeland security professionals edited by Gregory S. McNeal and featuring more than 2,500 articles in a searchable archive.)

Personal tools