Top law enforcement officials in the United States could not be clearer: the threat of a terrorist attack within the United States is now imminent.
“Every morning we worry,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a House hearing Tuesday.
The risk of a strike, he said, “has increased enormously.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who testified outside the Capitol in the Senate, issued the same urgent warning, saying that America’s internal security is in the worst condition he has ever seen.
His agency has recently thwarted “multiple terrorist attacks in cities and communities across the country,” he revealed.
It was not until December that Wray first publicly sounded the alarm about this growing threat following Hamas’ cowardly October 7 attack on Israel.
“Given the constant calls for attacks by foreign terrorist organizations since October 7, we are working around the clock,” he said then.
“Every morning we worry,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a House hearing Tuesday. The risk of a strike, he said, “has increased enormously.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who testified outside the Capitol in the Senate, issued the same urgent warning, saying that America’s internal security is in the worst condition he has ever seen.
I also recognized the danger.
I worked as Assistant Director of the FBI Criminal Investigation Division from 2004 to 2006.
Now I am retired. But in January I sent an urgent letter – co-signed by ten other former senior colleagues – to congressional leaders urging them to secure the open 1,800-mile southern border.
I understood then – and recognize it now with regret – that the terrorist murderers intent on attacking the United States homeland may have already infiltrated the United States, hidden among the more than 10 million illegal immigrants who have entered the country under the mandate. of Biden.
And yet, our President has vacillated: he has chosen to play politics instead of prioritizing national security.
As recently as last month, Biden ridiculously declared that “white supremacy” was “the most dangerous terrorist threat” in the United States.
This evident political complacency on the part of the Commander in Chief diverts resources unnecessarily.
Now, the president’s belated and frankly irresponsible attempt to address the crisis by executive order is too little, too late.
The October 7 massacre was the most cowardly act of international treason since Pearl Harbor, but the conflict it unleashed was not intended to be limited to the Middle East.
Terrorist killers intent on attacking the U.S. homeland may have already infiltrated the United States, hidden among the more than 10 million illegal immigrants who entered the country under Biden. (Above) Migrant beach barriers installed on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, on March 21, 2024
In January, I sent an urgent letter – co-signed by ten other former senior colleagues – to congressional leaders urging them to secure the open 1,800-mile southern border.
(Above) Migrants at the Paso del Norte international bridge to request asylum in the United States, seen from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on March 12, 2023.
The goal of Hamas, Hezbollah and their bloody sponsors in Tehran is to export their barbarism to the West.
Rising through the ranks of the FBI, I worked for 24 years as a special agent and scene commander of FBI assets in Iraq, where Iranian-sponsored terrorists killed nearly 1,000 Americans.
That job taught me the twisted truth of our enemy’s ideology: its lifeblood is a slavish commitment to extinguishing Western civilization, no matter how long it takes.
For the past 40 years, Iranian surrogates have been trying to infiltrate the United States, waiting for the order to be activated. Then the United States suddenly abandoned its defenses.
Biden’s systematic dismantling of border security began on the first day of his administration and completely overwhelmed law enforcement’s ability to screen people entering the country.
Permissive Democratic policies transformed Border Patrol agents from guards into Walmart greeters processing thousands of migrants crossing daily.
America’s enemies took notice.
Border officials reportedly arrested 169 people whose names appeared on an official terrorist watch list during fiscal year 2023. Compare that to 98 would-be terrorists crossing into custody in 2022 and just 15 in 2021.
And it gets worse: because there are more than 1.7 million known ‘escapers’ (illegal immigrants who completely evaded Border Patrol) now within the United States since Biden took office.
U.S. intelligence agencies have no idea who is crossing our border, undoing decades of information gathering to identify potential threats.
And when you consider that all it would take is three or four trained terrorists to unleash a devastating attack, the implications are chilling.
Director Wray said as much in his testimony this week, warning: “Increasingly concerning is the possibility of a coordinated attack here at home, not unlike the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russian concert hall.”
On March 22, a four-strong Islamic State cell killed at least 145 people and wounded more than 550 in a music hall outside Moscow.
Furthermore, consider the loss of life caused by 19 Al Qaeda terrorists who had infiltrated the United States and launched the 9/11 attacks.
The conflict in Israel has also revealed another insidious threat: a fifth column within American colleges and universities of sympathizers and supporters of designated terrorist organizations.
Consider the loss of life caused by 19 Al Qaeda terrorists who had infiltrated the United States and launched the 9/11 attacks.
Director Wray said as much in his testimony this week, warning: “Increasingly concerning is the possibility of a coordinated attack here at home, not unlike the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russian concert hall.” (Above) Crocus City Hall on fire amid the ISIS terrorist attack outside Moscow, Russia, on March 22, 2024
It is not difficult to imagine violent radicals incubating within these groups.
Adding to this general threat picture are the so-called “lone actors” activated remotely by social networks, terrorist propaganda and direct instructions.
The risk to the country is now immeasurable.
All possible U.S. intelligence resources must be mobilized immediately to confront this imminent threat. A last-minute border executive order, riddled with exceptions and unlikely to be enforced, is not enough.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security should be given free rein to head to the southern border to investigate, interview, and biometrically document every migrant from countries identified as breeding grounds for terrorists or otherwise hostile to the United States. .
This would have the dual effect of strengthening our human intelligence base and deterring further infiltration.
Our leaders must realize that we have neither the time nor the energy to divert our valuable assets to further this administration’s political agenda.
Border security must be restored immediately by ending catch-and-release policies that only incentivize illegal border crossing by allowing illegal immigrants into the United States on the condition that they appear in elusive court hearings half a decade later.
It is also imperative that we bring back Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires migrants to file asylum claims before crossing into the country.
After 9/11, the gateway to the United States—at airports, train stations, and authorized border crossings—was slammed shut.
Two decades later, the Biden administration threw open the side doors, windows and garage, creating huge security vulnerabilities.
We must protect the Homeland so that we do not suffer the same fate as our friends and allies in Israel.
