'Real urgency': Democrats urge action to root out 'violent extremists' inside the DHS

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have urged the Department of Homeland Security to root out violent extremists within the agency after reports said more than 300 current or former employees had been members of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia.

The letter, signed by 65 Democrats on Monday, was addressed to DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and expressed concern over reports that vigilante paramilitary groups were patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border with the approval of federal agents, saying that violent extremism posed a lethal and persistent threat, reported the Washington Post.

“There’s real urgency here," said Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY). An inability to identify extremist employees “creates real security issues and real credibility issues for the department, especially in light of the Oath Keepers’ role in Jan. 6 and the convictions for seditious conspiracy.”

Other lawmakers who signed the letter include senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Glenn Ivey (D-MD).

"It is critical that the Department of Homeland Security acts quickly to address internal threats of violent extremism, root out bigotry and xenophobia among its ranks, and send a clear message that violent extremism has no place in America — let alone among federal agents who are duty-bound to be fair, trusted enforcers of the law," Markey said in a statement that accompanied the letter.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Markey and other senators earlier this year that DHS was conducting an operation across the entire department to prevent, detect and respond to violent extremism, and the letter asks Mayorkas for a status update on that directive.

“Far-right militia groups operating on our southern border pose a significant threat to our national security,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said in a news release. “Congress needs to know what steps are being taken to make sure that federal agents are not collaborating with violent extremists.”