Homeland Security, Department of

US government department created in 2002, as a response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. It brings together 22 formerly disparate domestic agencies, including the Coast Guards, the Secret Service, the US Customs Service, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, into one department to protect the USA against threats to its security and coordinate its response. It is organized into four directorates: Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Science and Technology, and Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. Its secretary is Michael Chertoff (from 2005).