U.S. Homeland Security to investigate domestic extremism in its ranks

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Department of Homeland Security emblem is pictured at the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center in Arlington Virginia
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Ted Hesson and Mark Hosenball
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By Ted Hesson and Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will initiate an internal review of possible domestic violent extremism within its ranks, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Monday.

A group of senior DHS officials "will immediately begin a comprehensive review of how to best prevent, detect, and respond to threats related to domestic violent extremism within DHS," the department said in a news release.

President Joe Biden singled out U.S. immigration enforcement agencies in his first budget proposal released earlier this month, calling for funding to investigate complaints of white supremacist beliefs at the agencies. The White House did not say what prompted the request.

Mayorkas said in a statement on Monday that domestic violent extremism "poses the most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today," adding such acts "will not be tolerated."

(Reporting by Ted Hesson and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller)

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