public admin

Public Administration

LaShanda Lewis

Strayer University

Dr. Parham

Pad 500

16 November 2014

Public Administration

Introduction

Immigration is both a blessing and a problem to the US; it is a blessing because skilled manpower and technical experts in specific fields from across the world get opportunities to work and contribute to the economy of the nation. However, it is a problem because the nation has to incur expenses in ensuring that immigrants get the necessary amenities and immigrants with wrong intents are dealt with. For instance, due to high number of immigrants the federal government has to recruit more police to meet the police-public ratio. Consequently, the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement –ICE is mandated to carry out audits to enforce compliance to the requirements of the forms 1 -9 by employers. ICE ensures that employees are eligible to work in the U.S; this is in line with the federal policy requiring all immigrants to possess necessary documents that enable them to work in the U.S legally (Miller 2012, p. 447).

Evaluation of ICE

ICE is under the U.S Department of Homeland Security, since its formation in 2003, it has expanded in 48 foreign countries (ICE Website, 2014, p. 1). Its directorate of Management and Administration is charged with providing management that supports and advances the mission of ICE. Management and Administration oversees the budget, procurement, planning and human resource management and tracks performance measurements. There is interdependence between the budgeting, planning and human resource management divisions of the directorate. Problems experienced due to immigration have led to increase in the U.S budget allocation to the Department of Homeland Security, the money trickles down to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement- ICE. Importantly, due to the increase in the number of immigrants; ICE has to recruit more workforces to enforce immigration policies; hence, the planning process incorporates the logistics of the new workforce. The human resource plans for the number of recruits and expected expenditure; it then forwards it to the planning committee that eventually incorporates the suggestion in the budgeting process.

The personnel manager in ICE should be competent enough to ensure that the policy is addressed. Jackson, Schuler and Werner note that fairness is crucial to all human resource managers to ensure that agencies achieve their desired goals (2011, p. 74). Importantly, fair practice should be in line with legal requirements; for instance, what was fair yesterday may not be perceived as fair today because of the changes in the law. Fairness ensures that employees are satisfied with decisions arrived at in terms of promotions and layoffs. It builds trust among existing and potential recruits; for example potential recruits evaluate if the agency pays a fair wage in relation to the job description. Public personnel manager effectively practice fairness when they maintain a balance between employee’s rights and responsibilities develop and implement policies enhancing ethical and fair behavior (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011, p. 75). Furthermore, the human resource personnel should be competent in planning; achieving the mission of ICE requires human resource planning. It entails recruiting and positioning the manpower at the right places and time; eventually, individuals and the agency benefit because right people are placed at right jobs hence, the agency achieves its targets while the individual enjoys job satisfaction (Tanwar n.d, p. 5). Effective human resource planning requires analysis of the agency’s plans, forecasting demand, estimating manpower demand, plan for recruitment, development and posting to appropriate positions.

The agency’s budgeting process is not simply technocratic, but is political in nature; politics affect the allocation and distribution resources within the agency. ICE is a federal agency; therefore, unequal distribution of power has effects of including, excluding and access to information crucial in the budgeting process. According to Ragsdale, the deputy director of ICE, the agency receives enough financial support from the federal government to ensure that it operates with maximum efficiency (2014, p. 3). Whereas the politics of budgeting affects policy issues, the problems is not experienced at ICE because of the gravity of the issues it handles. For instance, ICE helps in preventing human trafficking and smuggling, dangerous narcotics and illegal immigrants; the job reduces security threat to all Americans. Importantly, the budget proposal is presented to the committee on appropriations in the U.S House of Representatives.

Planning is part of the works of the agency; it is crucial in ensuring that immigration policies are enforced. However, there are two challenges that face the process of planning; firstly, political responsiveness requires incorporation of citizens’ ideas into the agency’s policy; however, balancing between the citizens demands and the federal government’s ideology is hard. Occasionally, citizens’ input may not be the best; given the nature of the agency’s work political responsiveness may compromise security operations carried out by the agency. Secondly, according to Machiavelli (2007, p.122), there is need to constrain and facilitate citizens’ ideas; this is because it limits the effects of tyranny of the majority. The agency faces a problem of balancing the needs of the minority and those of the majority within its plans.

References

Jackson, S., Schuler, R. and Werner, S. (2011). Managing Human Resources. Web. Accessed on 14/11/2014.

Miller, R. (2012). Cengage Advantage Books: Fundamentals of Business Law: Excerpted Cases. Web. Accessed on 14/11/2014.

Machiavelli, N. (2007) Discorsi: Gedachten over Staat en Politiek. Translated by Heck, P. Amsterdam: Ambo

Ragsdale, D. H. (2014). U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement Statement. Web. Accessed on 14/11/2014.

Tanwar, B. P.S. (n.d). Ms-02 Management of Human Resources. Web. Accessed on 14/11/2014.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Website (2014). Overview. Web. Accessed on 14/11/2014.