OUR PICKSA Quarter of FBI Agents Are Now Assigned to Immigration Enforcement | Aviation as the New Irregular Warfare Battlefield | Firearms as Artefacts of Extremist Violence, and more
· A Quarter of FBI Agents Are Assigned to Immigration Enforcement, Per FBI Data
· Denied in July, DHS Intelligence Office Resumes Efforts to Shed Staff
· Flying the Not So Friendly Skies: Aviation as the New Irregular Warfare Battlefield
· Federal Courts Block FEMA & DHS Immigration Grant Conditions, Safeguarding Billions in Emergency Preparedness Funds
· How Trump Is Using the Justice Department to Target His Enemies
· Senate Confirms “Sharpiegate” Meteorologist to Lead NOAA
· Professor Who Teaches About Antifascism Moves to Europe After Death Threats
· Why Trump’s Purge of “Negative” National Park Signs Includes Climate Change
· You Can’t Designate “Antifa.” Banks and Platforms Will Act Like You Did Anyway.
· Kristi Noem Compares Antifa to MS-13, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic State
· Symbols and Scripts: Firearms as Artefacts of Extremist Violence
· “Missouri Is Next”: Neo-Nazi Network Expanding Whites-Only Towns—Here’s Where They’re Looking
A Quarter of FBI Agents Are Assigned to Immigration Enforcement, Per FBI Data (Perry Stein, Washington Post)
The large number of reassignments —about 3,000 agents —reflect a vast reshaping of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, which has focused on national security threats since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The intense focus on immigration has raised alarm among current and former FBI agents who say morale is low across the bureau as agents have less time to dedicate to the often complex cases they were hired to work on.
Agents have been pulled from duties related to cybercrimes, drug trafficking, terrorism, counterintelligence and more, the statistics show. Agents assigned to immigration enforcement are working with ICE to locate and arrest people in the country illegally.
The total amount of FBI resources devoted to immigration is probably higher than even the 25 percent figure. The FBI reassignment data Warner obtained reflects the number of agents working on immigration at least 50 percent of their time. It does not account for scores of other agents who have been detailed to immigration enforcement a lesser portion of their time.
Flying the Not So Friendly Skies: Aviation as the New Irregular Warfare Battlefield (Mohamad Mirghahari, HSToday)
Traditional warfare – that is, what we typically think of as armed conflict – is changing so rapidly that we must speak now in terms of irregular warfare. Even this new concept is itself rapidly evolving, by the month, day, hour, minute, and even second. With the expanding use of UAV’s, drones, and imagery, nowhere is traditional warfare giving way to irregular warfare than in the skies. Commercial aviation, once a powerful symbol of global connection and economic prosperity, is the emerging battlefield of irregular warfare.
Irregular warfare thrives on ambiguity and access, exploiting the gaps between convenience and timeliness in that unique place where commerce and security coexist but do not fully integrate. Aviation, with its extensive passenger operations, global cargo networks, and seamless movement, is a perfect example of a desirable target. Supply chains are designed for speed and efficiency, not suspicion, and aircraft and airports are subject to stringent regulations more for safety than for targeting by state and non-state actors. The surrounding logistics infrastructure, encompassing warehouses, trucking hubs, and freight forwarders, is expansive and often unevenly secured or even monitored.
