The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been warning the public about potential violence around the 2024 general election and othe...
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been warning the public about potential violence around the 2024 general election and other sociopolitical issues but has failed to address the increasing number of illegal immigrants with terrorist ties entering through the southern border.
President Joe Biden has maintained a strong stance on combating domestic terrorism since taking office in 2021. Since then, DHS has issued two advisories to address potential threats from extremists following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot through different international reviews and potential extremist violence warnings. Yet, there has been a noticeable lack of alarm over reports that individuals linked to terrorist organizations are entering the United States through the southern border.
For instance, NBC News reported in February that over 400 people crossed the border with the assistance of an ISIS-linked smuggling ring, including 50 individuals whose whereabouts remain unknown. As of February, at least 30,000 "Special Interest Aliens," migrants from countries considered potential national security risks, had been released in the preceding 15 months.
Between October 2023 and January 2024, more illegal immigrants on the terror watchlist were apprehended than in the total period between fiscal years 2017 and 2020. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) data also indicates approximately 286 encounters with individuals on the terror watchlist at the northern and southern borders between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, with 91 encounters recorded in fiscal year 2024 alone.
Moreover, the federal authorities recently arrested eight men from Tajikistan with connections to ISIS in coordinated raids across the U.S. One of the individuals had crossed into the U.S. through a port of entry using the CBP One app.
But despite all this, DHS has not issued any new advisories on its National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) dashboard. Instead, DHS has continued to warn about the threat of domestic violent extremists, often mentioning them alongside foreign terrorist groups. Recent advisories have even noted potential violence related to the 2024 general election and other sociopolitical issues.
GAO report proves that illegal immigration crisis is a more pressing issue than domestic terrorism
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended their approach, but then a June 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that incidents of domestic terrorism have claimed fewer American lives between 2010 and 2021 than lightning strikes.
The report, which analyzed data from the DHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals that there were only 145 deaths attributed to domestic terrorism across 231 incidents between 2010 and 2021. In contrast, the CDC reported an average of 28 lightning-related deaths per year from 2006 to 2011, translating to approximately 336 deaths during the same period.
But despite domestic terrorism accounting for only an average of 13.2 deaths annually, the Biden administration still prioritized combating domestic extremism more than the increasing number of illegal migrants with terrorist ties. Efforts have been focused on addressing extremist ideologies within institutions such as the military, especially following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and now that the 2024 presidential election is only a few months away.
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