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Homeland Security Research Design

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Homeland Security Research Design
Chris Hix
HSM421: Research & Analysis in Homeland Security
Professor: Kenneth Jenkins
March 7, 2016

Homeland Security Research Design
The United States has invested heavily in maintaining cyber security and border security in the homeland. Federal, State, and Local level initiatives have been implemented to escalate enforcement undertakings in communities across the country. These efforts are geared towards thwarting illegal border crossings and unlawful presence and occur in tandem with workplace enforcement to prevent illegal employment. However, these measures are not level with the excessive’ focus on terrorist threats displayed by agencies tasked with ensuring homeland security. The system is correctly focused on the terrorist threat posed by radical groups that are miles away while exhibiting complacency to more immediate threats. For instance, hackings, illegal immigration, human, and substance trafficking do more damage in a year than the combined damage of all terrorist activities to ever occur on American soil. Consequently, if the system is to achieve its mandate of ensuring Homeland Security, its main focus should be on immediate threats, of which cyber and border security are of most concern. The continued focus on terrorism as the central threat to homeland security necessitates an examination of the key factors that influence decision-making regarding homeland security.
Hypotheses
Getting the priorities right in the systems of homeland security and emergency management is heavily influenced by prevailing events, such that the system has to react accordingly to the emergence of perceived threats. However, the system continues to consider terrorism as the central threat to homeland security (Bjelopera, 2013). Focusing on terrorism allows the escalation of the threat to a national concern such

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