The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) protects our country’s borders and manages the flow of people and products into and out of the United States. Here are some of the ways they do this.
DHS guards our land borders with Canada and Mexico, and patrols our coasts including the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. They also guard our ‘borders in the air’ at each airport where planes from foreign countries land. Whether it’s a Customs and Border Patrol agent on horseback, a Coast Guard member on a boat, or a Transportation Safety Administration employee at an airport, DHS employees are working to protect our borders.
While its agents patrol the land border and shoreline, other teams of DHS employees are working to stop criminals and illegal activity before reaching the United States. DHS partners with other countries and international law enforcement organizations to identify, research, and restrict criminals who live outside of the United States and try to smuggle drugs, people, or conduct other illegal activities within the United States.
DHS employees enforce the law, including immigration laws, to make sure that only U.S. citizens and visitors with permission live in the United States. They make sure that travelers who are visiting here go home when they are supposed to, and they make sure that people who aren’t supposed to be here are safely returned to their country.
DHS works hard to make sure people from other countries who want to come to the United States follow the right steps to live in or visit the United States legally. If immigrants and visitors follow the correct process, DHS helps to make sure that they have the same rights and benefits as the rest of us.