DHS Announces Plan to Combat Domestic Terrorism
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin K. McAleenan announced the new DHS Strategic Framework for Combating Terrorism and Targeted Violence at the Brookings Institution, during an event cohosted by the Heritage Foundation.
“Today, the United States faces an evolving threat environment, and a threat of terrorism and targeted violence within our borders that is more diverse than at any time since the 9/11 attacks,” said Acting Secretary McAleenan. “While the threat posed by foreign terrorist organizations like the Islamic State and al-Qaeda persists, we are acutely aware of the growing threat from enemies, both foreign and domestic, who seek to incite violence in our Nation’s youth, disenfranchised, and disaffected, in order to attack their fellow citizens and fray at the seams of our diverse social fabric. This awareness, coupled with the history of recent tragedies, has galvanized the Department of Homeland Security to expand its counterterrorism mission focus beyond terrorists operating abroad, to include those radicalized to violence within our borders by violent extremists of any ideology.”
The Acting Secretary explained that the new strategic framework will make it clear that the Department is committed to addressing the threat posed by terrorism and targeted violence at home, just as it is committed to continuing to aggressively pursue the foreign terrorist organizations it has denied entry to the United States for nearly 17 years.
The strategic framework offers a vision to expands DHS’s counterterrorism mission to face modern threats by implementing proven, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches. It is designed to support the White House’s 2017 National Security Strategy and execute upon the DHS responsibilities enumerated in the Administration’s2018 National Strategy for Counterterrorism.
The Strategic Framework outlines the Department’s vision around the following goals:
- Understand the evolving terrorism and targeted violence threat environment, and support partners in the homeland security enterprise through this specialized knowledge.
- Prevent terrorists and other hostile actors from entering the United States, and deny them the opportunity to exploit the Nation’s trade, immigration, and domestic and international travel systems.
- Prevent terrorism and targeted violence.
- Enhance U.S. infrastructure protections and community preparedness
More information can be found here.
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