DHS purge: Congressional Democrats question Mayorkas on removing "extremists" from his agency

More than 60 lawmakers are holding the Secretary of Homeland Security accountable for progress in rooting out "more than 300 members of the Oath Keepers group" who claimed to work for the Department.

Washington, D.C. (February 3, 2021) Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas records a video message to DHS employees.

Published by

Verónica Silveri Pazos

18 de julio, 2023

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A letter signed by more than 60 Democratic members of Congress demands that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) disclose "the steps it has taken to eliminate extremists within its ranks."

The missive addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and spearheaded by Representatives Robert Garcia and Daniel Goldman along with Senator Ed Markey cites a report called the 'Government Oversight Project.' This document revealed last year that more than 300 members of the extremist group Oath Keepers "described themselves as employees or former employees of DHS."

It is clear that the infiltration of extremists into federal forces is a persistent and clear threat to the rule of law and national security, and urgent action is needed to root out federal violent extremists. While we commend your commitment to identifying and combating domestic violent extremism within the Department of Homeland Security workforce, we write today to ask for an update on the steps and actions you have taken to eliminate extremists within your ranks.

Markey Goldman Garcia Lette... by Verónica Silveri

The document explicitly demands answers on DHS's progress in "preventing, detecting, and responding to violent extremist activities within the Department's workforce" and sets a deadline of July 31, 2023.

In order to better understand how DHS is responding to extremism within its workforce, we ask that you provide written responses to the following questions by July 31, 2023. Has DHS now adopted an authoritative definition of domestic violent extremism, and has the agency taken into account the input of national experts on paramilitary and border vigilante groups on this issue?

DHS Response

DHS published -in 2022- a report in which they noted that they had "found very few cases in which the DHS workforce has been involved in violent domestic extremism." However, the same document acknowledged that there were "significant gaps that have impeded its ability to comprehensively prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism within DHS."

Report to the Secretary of Homeland Security Domestic Violent Extremism Internal Review Observations, Finding by Verónica Silveri on Scribd

The Department did not respond to the questions contained in the letter. Instead, it claimed that "DHS responds to congressional correspondence directly through official channels," and noted that it "will continue to respond appropriately to all congressional oversight."