Both identity/biometric industry professionals and the general public have an intense interest in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This isn’t a new interest, but has persisted since the Department was created.
But it’s important to remember that DHS has a bunch of different components, ranging from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the U.S. Coast Guard.
And you don’t want to get them confused. You really don’t.
If you go the the DHS website and visit the Organizational Chart page, you can download a PDF of the organizational chart. As of November 8, 2023. (We’ll return to that.) As a help, here’s an image showing the organizational chart.
The chart is mostly filled with a myriad of offices that don’t interest most people. I don’t think political activists really care about the Office of Public Affairs.
The sexy stuff can be found in the 8 boxes at the bottom of the organizational chart. These include:
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
- U.S. Secret Service.
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
- Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
- U.S. Coast Guard.
Remember remember remember that these are separate agencies, and each one has its own mission that is separate from the missions of the other agencies. So don’t try to complain to the Coast Guard about what ICE does or doesn’t do; the Coast Guard doesn’t care. In fact it’s highly likely that the people in the Coast Guard think that the people in ICE are a bunch of bozos. And vice versa. Even for the agencies that supposedly work together, such as ICE, CBP, USCIS, and TSA.
During my years with IDEMIA and its corporate predecessors, and during my time as a consultant at Bredemarket, I have dealt with many of these agencies and helped them achieve their missions.
But there’s one part of DHS that is of prime concern to me…and you can’t see it on the org chart, right above the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer.
What about OBIM?
As a biometric product marketing expert, I obviously have an intense interest in the Office of Biometric Identity Management, or OBIM. This office self-identifies as follows:
The Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) leads the U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the advancement of identity for a safer world and improved quality of life through the development and refinement of solutions to improve how identities are verified and managed. In this role, OBIM delivers biometric compare, store, share, and analyze services to DHS and mission partners. The need for biometrics continues to grow among DHS Components; interagency stakeholders (e.g., the Departments of State, Justice, and Defense); state, local, tribal and territorial entities; the Intelligence Community; and international mission partners. Biometric and identity services support critical national security priorities, including counterterrorism and immigration. OBIM is focused on delivering capabilities, services, and expertise that provide identity assurance for decision making. OBIM’s overall goals and priorities include continuing to design and deliver biometric and identity services, strengthening collaboration and coordination of with all DHS partners, and pursuing advancements in biometric technology and identity solutions to enable DHS operational missions.
So both because of its role within DHS and its role with other federal, state, local, and international government agencies, OBIM is key to biometric use. If you’ve heard of IDENT, OBIM is involved in that. If you’ve heard of HART, OBIM is involved in that.
The reason that OBIM is not on the displayed org chart is because it’s a component of another entity, the Management Directorate. It’s on the left side of the org chart,
And by the way, OBIM may go away
As I mentioned earlier in this post, the displayed org chart is dated November 8, 2023. Since that day we have transitioned to a new President who is keenly interested in the work of DHS, and who may alter the displayed organizational chart.
One potential change is already public knowledge. Biometric Update:
“As the U.S. federal government expands its use of biometric technologies to manage everything from border security to federal benefits, an internal debate over the future of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) has emerged as a flashpoint. Conversations inside the Trump administration, believed to be led by influential White House adviser Stephen Miller, have fueled concerns about the potential consolidation of OBIM under the direct control of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).”
As you can imagine, the consequences could be dramatic.
“‘There is a good chance that OBIM will be forced into CBP, which will mean that the 40-plus stakeholders that OBIM currently has could well be treated secondarily to the CBP-centric border mission,’ one source told Biometric Update on condition of anonymity, adding, ‘That would not be a great outcome.'”
You have to wonder whether the anonymous source was from an international agency, worried that CBP wouldn’t care about its homeland security needs.
Or maybe a tribal agency with the same concern.
Or maybe the FBI, who could fear that CBP wouldn’t care about law enforcement.
Or maybe ICE, who could worry that CBP would prioritize tarrifs and border protection over immigration enforcement. Because border protection and immigration enforcement are two separate tasks, which is why there are two separate agencies in the first place.
In summary, don’t just talk about a monolithic DHS. Know the players. And which players may strike out in the future.
Bredemarket 