Homeland Security asks for more law enforcement on U.S.-Mexico border and troops to remain until end of January. The Department of Homeland Security requested Friday that the deployment of military troops be extended to Jan. 31 for "The ongoing threat at the southern border," according to department spokeswoman Katie Waldman. She said DHS also requested law enforcement officers working at other federal agencies contribute to border security because President Donald Trump "Has made it clear that border security is a top administration priority." The request, which is being reviewed by the Defense Department, is for the number of troops to remain at about 4,000, according to The Associated Press. Ref. USAToday.
Exclusive: White House rebuffed attempts by DHS to make combating domestic terrorism a higher priority
White House officials rebuffed efforts by their colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security for more than a year to make combating domestic terror threats, such as those from white supremacists, a greater priority as specifically spelled out in the National Counterterrorism Strategy, current and former senior administration officials as well as other sources close to the Trump administration tell CNN.
"Homeland Security officials battled the White House for more than a year to get them to focus more on domestic terrorism," one senior source close to the Trump administration tells CNN. "The White House wanted to focus only on the jihadist threat which, while serious, ignored the reality that racial supremacist violence was rising fast here at home. They had major ideological blinders on."
The National Counterterrorism Strategy, issued last fall, states that "Radical Islamist terrorists remain the primary transnational terrorist threat to the United States and its vital national interests," which few experts dispute. What seems glaring to these officials is the minimizing of the threat of domestic terrorism, which they say was on their radar as a growing problem. Ref. CNN.
There are no more migrants under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas, Homeland Secretary Mayorkas says. There are no more migrants camped under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas, Mayorkas announced Friday. Mayorkas said at a White House briefing that all were gone as of Friday morning. About 15,000 migrants had amassed at the border site less than a week ago. Ref. USAToday.