A national security expert is stating there may be danger close to home as sleeper cell activity within the United States poses increasing danger.
To that end, former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisor Charles Marino is urging the DHS to raise the national terror threat level, per Fox News.
Marino’s warning follows a shooting that investigators say may be linked to terrorism.
“We are facing a wide variety of threats here, and the problem is, they’re all located within our own borders right now,” Marino said Monday.
Marino, a former Secret Service supervisory agent, talked about the threat after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
This prompted retaliation threats and warnings from security officials who believe sleeper cells that infiltrated the U.S. may be preparing to strike.
“There’s no doubt that law enforcement and intelligence agencies are operating at an elevated threat level here in the United States,” Marino said.
“That’s based on the correct operating assumption that the United States has been allowed to be infiltrated with a myriad of threats from around the globe, thanks in large part to the policies of the Biden administration, which turned our borders into a sieve,” he added.
Marino blamed several border policies for what he said is an increasingly vulnerable domestic threat environment, including “the undercutting and exploitation” of asylum and temporary protective status programs and weakness in the legal immigration process.
“What you have is you now have communities comprised of immigrants in the United States that have been allowed to segregate themselves based on culture and ideologies, and what this leads to is an ability to become radicalized,” he said.
“And as reported, sometimes this radicalization is focused on those with mental health issues, those going through a tough time in their lives… this also impacts American citizens as well, who are open to becoming radicalized,” he continued.
Marino said he is confident in federal law enforcement’s ability to respond but added potential adversaries could target critical infrastructure and cybersecurity systems.
He urged Americans to stay vigilant and cooperate with authorities.
Federal authorities are investigating a deadly Texas bar shooting as a possible act of terrorism.
Former ATF Special Agent in Charge Bernard Zapor said Sunday that the U.S. faces growing vulnerabilities, especially since DHS contends with funding uncertainty.
“It makes no practical sense whatsoever, and it puts our country and our communities down to something like a restaurant or a bar in Austin, Texas, potentially at risk for a really unnecessary and ridiculous motive, I would say, political,” he said.
“Our public safety has to be paramount above all. National security and public safety are the paramounts of our democracy, and it’s something we have to treat with ultimate care and that nothing like politics interferes with the ability to protect our citizens,” he said.
