Congressional Democrats ask DHS for update on investigation into extremism in department

On Monday, Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Robert Garcia and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey sent a letter, co-signed by 63 other Democratic members of Congress, to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting an update on what his department is doing to root out extremism within its ranks.

The letter comes more than a year after leaked data from the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers revealed that more than 300 of its members claimed to be current or former DHS employees. The leak sparked an internal investigation conducted by senior DHS officials to evaluate how effectively the department can prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats from domestic extremists within its own ranks.

The report states that “the Department has significant gaps that have impeded its ability to comprehensively prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism within DHS.”

To help address these issues, the group of officials who worked on the report came up with 15 recommendations for the department to help address and prevent internal threats from domestic extremists. Among the top recommendations were for the department to define what a “domestic violent extremist” is, come up with a list of behavioral indicators to identify someone who might be part of an extremist group, and educate DHS employees about the threat that domestic extremists pose to the department’s mission.

The members of Congress who signed the letter said they are eager to hear how the department has implemented these recommendations, especially as the threat of extremism — particularly from right-wing groups — is on the rise. The letter asks Mayorkas to provide Congress with an update on the steps that DHS has taken to “weed out extremists within your ranks” and how many of the 15 actions recommended in the March 2022 report have been implemented thus far.

In January 2023, Markey, along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, sent a letter to Mayorkas, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting Commissioner Troy Miller expressing serious concern about the rise of far-right paramilitary and vigilante groups patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border. The senators highlighted that one of the groups, Patriots for America, seemed to have a working relationship with law enforcement, including Customs and Border Protection agents.

A report from January from the technology sector watchdog group the Tech Transparency Group reported on illegal citizen militia groups along the U.S.-Mexico border recruiting members and spreading immigration conspiracy theories on Facebook.

In a statement, Rep. Garcia noted: “Far-right militia groups operating on our Southern border pose a significant threat to our national security. The Department of Homeland Security needs to come forward and explain their protocol for dealing with these extremist groups.”

The ongoing investigation into the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, revealed that members of the Oath Keepers were among those responsible for planning and executing that attack. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty in May and sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of seditious conspiracy. In total, 29 members of the extremist group were charged with crimes related to the attack, and at least 15 have been found guilty.

“In the wake of the January 6th attack on the Capitol we have uncovered existential threats facing our most sensitive federal agencies and departments,” Goldman said in the statement. “The knowledge that the Department of Homeland Security has potentially been infiltrated by violent domestic extremism is an issue of utmost urgency. Members of the Oath Keepers have planned and attempted to violently overthrow the government and these individuals have no place in our federal agencies, especially not in our Department of Homeland Security.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.