Department of Homeland Security Announces Annual Secretary’s Awards Recipients
The Annual Secretary’s Awards are a top honor in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as they recognize both the “extraordinary individual and collective achievements of the workforce.”
This year, 1,341 DHS employees were selected as recipients of the Annual Secretary’s Awards.
The honorees work in 43 different states, countries, territories, and districts and were selected for their “extraordinary achievements and commitment to the DHS mission.”
Categories include recognition for exceptional service, meritorious service, leadership excellence, valor, innovation, team excellence, champion of equity, and volunteer service.
“Every day, the men and women of the Department respond to cyberattacks; save lives by sea and air; secure our nation’s borders and critical infrastructure; and deploy across the country to help Americans recover from disasters; and so much more. Their achievements aren’t only on the front lines, but also extend behind the scenes to modernize and streamline the Department’s processes in order to better relationships between the Department and the people we serve,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas,
The recipients were honored for some of the following achievements:
· Improving the efficiency of processing noncitizens at the U.S.-Mexico border
· Streamlining the process for adjudicating asylum applications
· Resettling nearly 90,000 Afghan refugees in the U.S.
· Establishing a process for Ukrainians seeking refuge
· Deploying to respond to natural disasters
· Investigating cybercrime
· Providing help to organizations to help their increase their cyber defenses
· Securing the 2022 elections
· Acting quickly and courageously to save lives in “harrowing circumstances”
The recipients will be honored by Secretary Mayorkas and other DHS leaders at eight regional ceremonies across the country. The first one occurred Tuesday, March 21, in Tucson, Arizona.
DHS Workforce Priorities
The announcement of the award recipients comes as Secretary Mayorkas recently unveiled 12 priorities for DHS. Several of the priorities were related to workforce issues, including advancing a culture of excellence, recruiting, hiring and retaining a world-class diverse workforce, and advancing cohesion across DHS to improve mission executive and efficiency.
In addition, DHS has been marking its 20-year anniversary, and honoring some of the employees who have been with the agency from day one.
Those employees are known as “plank-holders” and 100 of then were on hand at the White House in early March for a ceremony.
President Biden said at the event, “You’re patriots who possess a rare commitment — a rare commitment to your fellow Americans, showing the American people how their government works for them. You give them confidence. You represent the best of us: duty, devotion, courage, honor, service before self. It’s truly noble.”