Latest news with #TerroristOrganizations
Reuters
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US mission warns of threats to Jewish, Israeli communities in UAE
Aug 8 (Reuters) - The United States mission to the United Arab Emirates said on Friday it was aware of information indicating threats towards the Jewish and Israeli communities in the UAE. On July 31, Israel's National Security Headquarters upgraded its travel warning for Israelis in the Gulf country, saying: "terrorist organizations are operating with increased intensity these days in efforts to harm Israel".
CNBC
25-06-2025
- Politics
- CNBC
FBI returning agents to counterterrorism work after diverting them to immigration
The FBI is returning counterterrorism agents who were ordered to focus on immigration cases back to their old jobs because of concern about potential threats from Iran, four people with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News. Don Holstead, the assistant director for counter terrorism, issued guidance over the weekend reassigning agents who work on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and cyber issues but had been sidetracked by immigration duties, two of the people said. All four people said the move was related to the possibility of Iran's retaliating against the United States for its recent military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. NBC News has reported that Iranian officials threatened U.S. officials that they would unleash so-called sleeper cells inside the United States if it were attacked. The FBI said it does not confirm or deny operational changes. "However, we continuously assess and realign our resources to respond to the most pressing threats to our national security and to ensure the safety of the American people," it said in a statement. For months, current and former FBI officials have warned about a new requirement that FBI employees across the country, including some who specialize in national security, spend significant amounts of time helping Department of Homeland Security officers track down undocumented immigrants, which is not traditionally an FBI role. FBI Director Kash Patel imposed the requirements pursuant to Trump administration executive orders. Many current and former bureau officials had expressed concern that given the FBI's limited resources, crucial national security threats could get less attention because of the focus on immigration. There have also been a series of departures from key national security jobs in the Justice Department and the FBI. NBC News reported this week on a so-called brain drain from national security positions due to resignation in both agencies. "The firings and retirements have had some effect, but the greater impact is from the top-down redirection of FBI resources to immigration and to cartels," said an FBI employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The counterterrorism mission has been fundamentally redefined to treat drug cartels as designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. That has consumed huge resources across the FBI field and at HQ and at DOJ." Traditionally, cartels and criminals have been investigated by the criminal sections of the FBI and the Justice Department, while terrorism came under each organization's national security sections, staffed by different people, FBI employees said. In theory, if cartels are now international terrorist organizations, the FBI's Counterterrorism Division should manage those cases, the employees added, but agents from that division are not experts in cartels. At the same time, many criminal squads do not usually work with intelligence information and do not operate in facilities designed to protect classified documents. The FBI is relatively small — 38,000 employees, many of them not agents, officials said. So shifting agents to new missions has an impact. "When you shift to make the border the top priority, you necessarily lower other priorities," the FBI employee said. "The FBI doesn't admit it, but it's math." A second FBI employee said the shift of agents toward immigration had affected the bureau. "We were already spread pretty thin. It will only take one crisis to really stress the system," the second FBI employee said. "On the terrorism front, I think the only way we will see the impact, unfortunately, is when something bad happens." A third FBI employee praised the reallocation of resources in the wake of the threats from Iran. "Guess they are realizing this whole national security thing is important, after all," the employee said. A senior DHS official and a former DHS official said there have been cuts to the several offices involved in DHS' counterterrorism efforts since Trump returned to office. Those who have been fired or reassigned include "a lot of really highly intelligent, highly qualified people," the senior official said. They have decades of experience in intelligence gathering, screening and vetting people for possible terror ties, working with communities to prevent possible attacks and working with law enforcement to stop attackers. "It was a small team, but it has been much reduced," the official said, noting that at least six people in the department's office of policy who handled counterterrorism were fired or reassigned. The official, who has worked under several administrations, said regular meetings on counterterrorism with top DHS officials were rescheduled and eventually canceled. "The focus is immigration and not counterterrorism," the senior DHS official said. Senior leaders at DHS' Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships were fired or reassigned because of a perception the office was focused on right-wing domestic extremist groups, the official said. But the office's mission was to build local partnerships and administer grants to prevent violence and terrorism motivated by ideologies across the political spectrum.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
VP Vance visits southern border, touts improvements
Vice President JD Vance traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday and touted his administration's efforts to secure the border while criticizing his predecessor for not doing the same. 'Joe Biden opened up the American southern border and allowed the cartels to turn it into their playground. Now that's the bad news,' the vice president said at a press conference in Eagle Pass, Texas. 'The good news is,' he continued, 'it turns out, we didn't need new laws. ... We just needed a new president of the United States, and thank God that's exactly what we have.' Migrant crossings at the southern border are down from 1,500 a day to 30 a day, Vance said, before promising more improvements. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard accompanied the vice president at the press conference and the helicopter tour around Eagle Pass. 'The drone technology that the cartels are using requires, unfortunately, a military response and military support,' said Vance. Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to send 5,050 troops to the border on Friday, as The Hill reported. They will join the 1,600 U.S. Marines deployed by Trump earlier in January, and the 2,500 National Guard troops sent under the Biden administration. The defense secretary promised to dedicate his department's resources — from troops and surveillance to strategic planning — to securing the border. Gabbard said her agency is focused in finding and deporting migrants affiliated with terrorist organizations. Noting the millions of undocumented migrants who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, Gabbard expressed concerns about unvetted migrants. 'There were over 4,000 people who came across our borders using an ISIS affiliated network. Our National Counterterrorism Center ... identified those individuals,' Gabbard said. 'There were hundreds of them who were either known terrorists or associated with known terrorists.' The national intelligence director said the Biden administration failed to deport all these individuals. The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center is creating one source for vetting migrants and identifying those who pose a threat to the country, she said. 'The president's designation of the cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations falls directly into this especially as we're seeing some of the tactics that these cartels are using reflect some of the tactics that we've seen used by Islamist terrorists in countries that many of us have served in overseas.' Directing his question to Vance, a reporter asked what the biggest obstacles to mass deportation were. 'Rome wasn't built in a day,' the vice president responded. 'We have to remember that President Biden gutted the entire immigration enforcement regime of this country.' The Trump-Vance administration wants to empower the country to enforce common sense immigration laws, he said. 'I don't want to get ahead of any public announcements, but you know, one of the ways that we wanted to make sure that we're enforcing our border is that we make it easier for people who are here illegally to go back home of their own accord,' Vance said. He noted that funding is necessary for deportation flights, deportation centers and other measures to ensure compliance with the federal law, and said it's a part of Trump's priorities. 'I think the president's hope is that by the end of the term we build the entire border wall,' Vance said. 'And of course that's the physical structure, the border wall itself.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
Life sentences possible for 3 men accused of massive drug dealing charges
The Brief Three men were in Arizona for initial court appearances after being "secured" from Mexico in late February. The defendants allegedly imported massive amounts of drugs into the United States. Life sentences are possible for each of the three defendants. PHOENIX - Three wanted men, accused of being part of group designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), appeared in court facing multiple criminal charges after being secured from Mexico on Feb. 27. According to a release by the US Attorney's Office of Arizona, Jose Bibiano Cabrera-Cabrera, 37; Jesus Humberto Limon-Lopez, 43; and Jose Guadalupe Tapia-Quintero, 53; all of Mexico, were in court last week for their initial appearances. What we know "These defendants are collectively alleged to have been responsible for the importation into the United States of massive quantities of poison, including cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin, as well as associated acts of violence," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a release. All three men face at least three charges each with a potential sentence of life in prison, if convicted. The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strick Fore Initiative (OCDETF). The Customs and Porter Protection Agency, Department of Homeland Security, DEA, FBI, IRS, US Marshals and the US Postal Service are just some of the agencies that comprise the OCDETF. All three have merely been indicted and are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a jury. What we don't know It was not clear which FTO's the defendants were accused of being part of.
