Nation

DHS sends out domestic terrorism alert

Published

3 years ago

January 27, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a national terrorism alert Wednesday warning that domestic extremists in the coming weeks could potentially carry out attacks, following the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

“Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,″ the bulletin said.

While not pointing to a specific threat, the DHS bulletin said there is “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” in the weeks after President Joe Biden‘s January 20 inauguration.

The bulletin, part of a public alert called a National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin, is the department’s first in about a year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Wednesday’s DHS bulletin did not discuss the ideology or political allegiances of such extremists or any specific plot but rather warned generally about “individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes fueled by false narratives.”

The bulletin also discussed a series of factors in recent history that they say have increased the likelihood for extremists, which the bulletin refers to as “domestic violent extremists” (DVEs), to carry out politically motivated violence.

These motivational factors include: “anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities.” The bulletin also said that “[l]ong-standing racial and ethnic tension” and “opposition to immigration” have motivated DVE attacks, citing a 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas that killed 23 people.

“DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities,” the bulletin said.

Moreover, the bulletin also spoke of violent riots in “recent days,” which is likely referencing violence that has recently broken out in Portland, Oregon, spurred by far-left groups.

The DHS is currently headed by acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske while Biden’s nominee for the role, Alejandro Mayorkas, is undergoing the Senate confirmation process.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

Immigration

Show me the money! Report shows U.S. unable to show effectiveness of $3 billion spent in Mexico

Published

9 hours ago

September 25, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

The U.S. government has spent more than $3 billion in Mexico to reduce drug trafficking and transnational crime since 2008; unfortunately, little can be shown for it.

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that “the U.S. government cannot demonstrate that it is achieving its goals in Mexico and that its investments, at over $3 billion since 2008, have been spent effectively.”

The Center Square writes that the U.S. money going to Mexico was intended to mitigate transnational organized crime and violence in Mexico, enhance the country’s rule of law and reduce drug trafficking to the United States. The report discusses work of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“Specifically, the United States relies on Mexico to help manage cross-border crime and migrant smuggling, and Mexico relies on the United States to disrupt the flow of firearms into Mexico and decrease the U.S. demand for drugs,” according to the report.

“Firearms from the United States fuel violence in Mexico” the report continues. In 2021, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that about 70% of firearms seized in Mexico from 2014 through 2018 and submitted for tracing originated in the United States.

As for drugs, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, cartels in Mexico supply most of the cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and illicit fentanyl smuggled into the United States.

“Despite ongoing security assistance, the security situation in Mexico has significantly worsened over the last 15 years. From 2007 to 2021, the homicide rate in Mexico more than tripled to one of the highest national homicide rates in the world, from eight homicides per 100,000 people to 28 per 100,000 people, according to the United Nations,” according to the report. “Meanwhile, Mexico has extremely low rates of prosecution for all crimes, according to the 2022 State Department Human Rights Report on Mexico.”

The report states two additional problems are less cooperation from Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and corruption.

“The López Obrador administration, which took office in late 2018, reduced security cooperation with the United States at the federal level,” states the report. “This limited some programs, according to U.S. officials.”

Furthermore, “High levels of impunity and corruption in Mexico impede the rule of law and limit potential partnerships for State/INL and USAID,” according to the report. “For example, State’s 2022 human rights report stated that some Mexican government officials were complicit with international organized criminal groups, but these officials were rarely prosecuted or convicted.”