Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has claimed that white extremists are the greatest terror threat to America.
QUICK FACTS:
- Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas on the crisis at the U.S. southern border during a congressional hearing.
- Secretary Mayorkas has claimed that white extremists are the greatest terror threat to America: “The greatest terrorism-related threat that we face in the homeland is the threat of domestic violent extremism,” Mayorkas said earlier this month.
- Rep. Steube on Thursday asked Mayorkas, “How many cases involving white supremacists and domestic terrorists have you referred to DOJ for prosecution?”
- Secretary Mayorkas attempted to change the subject, asserting to Steube, “You have made some profoundly inaccurate statements.”
- But the Florida congressman stayed on his mark, stating, “I’m specifically asking you a question—you just clarified [that] domestic terrorism is a threat to the homeland; number one threat. And I’m asking you how many referrals from Homeland Security have you made to [the] DOJ for white supremacy or domestic terrorism.”
- Without being able to cite one example, Mayorkas instead promised he would provide Steube with “that information” at a later time.
- “So you don’t know?” Rep. Steube asked again. “Can you name one case?”
- “I will provide the data to you,” Mayorkas repeated.
WHAT ELSE REP. STEUBE SAID:
“So you can’t name one case,” remarked Rep. Steube to Secretary Mayorkas, adding, “and yet, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice, almost half of all the criminals prosecuted in federal courts in 2018 were aliens charged with crimes ranging from drug trafficking to murder and to kidnapping. And the vast majority, 38,000, were illegal immigrants, illegal aliens. But it’s still domestic terrorism is the number one cause of your concerns.”
WATCH THE FULL EXCHANGE:
BACKGROUND:
- Last June, Joe Biden’s administration announced a plan to address the threat of violence posed by white supremacists. The White House released a 30-page plan for increased information sharing between federal and local officials and social media companies as well as additional resources to identify and prosecute such threats. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a speech that in the “coming days and months” he would convene an interagency task force dedicated to combating domestic terrorism. Garland said he has already “begun to reinvigorate” that task force.
- Joe Biden has said (below) that “terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today—not ISIS, not al Qaeda—white supremacists.”
