Homeland Security is quickly turning things around under President Biden
The Department of Homeland Security suffered from a poor reputation over the last four years, as it gradually became the arm of Donald Trump’s administration to carry out reckless abuses of power against journalists and border detainees – some of the most horrific scandals of the Trump administration that still haunt us to this day – and went over a year and a half without having any formally confirmed leadership at all, following the departure of Kirstjen Nielsen as its head.
Now that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been confirmed by the Senate, the DHS is quickly turning into something much different under the Biden administration. With the threat of domestic terrorism being one of the greatest threats facing the United States right now, the department’s Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism is setting up a new program focused on studying and preventing the threat of domestic extremists.
Over $500,000 has been allocated to American University to study the threat of white supremacist extremism in depth, along with funding for state and local law enforcement, with further funding expected from Congress, efforts that were obstructed for years by the last administration, which tried to get Antifa and Black Lives Matter designated as hate groups and worked to eliminate federal oversight for local police departments.
It’s a reminder that even before all of President Biden’s nominees at the Justice Department are confirmed, some crucial steps are being taken to prevent future violence like the January 6 insurrection. At a time when hate crimes are up 67%, this is yet another reason why the consequences of elections matter and why the 2022 midterms are crucial to win.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making