Critical Releases in Homeland Security: October 7, 2020

From the Document: "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the first and last line of defense against the many threats facing our country. Our ability to mitigate these threats is predicated on our ability to understand them and to inform the American people. The DHS Homeland Threat Assessment (HTA) identifies the primary threats facing the United States of America at and inside our borders. This Assessment draws upon all sources of information and expertise available to the Department, including from intelligence, law enforcement, and our operational components. [...] The purpose of the HTA is to provide the American people with an overview of the information collected and analyzed by DHS employees around the world and provided to the Secretary of Homeland Security. [...] This inaugural HTA presents a holistic look from across the Department and provides the American people with the most complete, transparent, and candid look at the threats facing our Homeland. It breaks down the major threats to the Homeland in the following sections: 1. The Cyber Threat to the Homeland; 2. Foreign Influence Activity in the Homeland; 3. Threats to U.S. Economic Security; 4. The Terrorist Threat to the Homeland; 5. Transnational Criminal Organization Threats to National Security; 6. Illegal Immigration to the United States; 7. Natural Disasters."

From the Document: "We surveyed 21,196 individuals across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. The survey was conducted on 7-26 August 2020 by PureSpectrum via an online, nonprobability sample, with state-level representative quotas for race/ethnicity, age, and gender. [...] In addition to balancing on these dimensions, we reweighted our data using demographic characteristics to match the U.S. population with respect to race/ethnicity, age, gender, education, and living in urban, suburban, or rural areas. This was the ninth in a series of surveys we have been conducting since April 2020, examining attitudes and behaviors regarding COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] in the United States."

From the Introduction: "The United States faces increasingly complex threats from terrorism and targeted violence. Both continue to pose a grave threat in ways that have evolved dramatically in the nearly two decades since the 9/11 attacks. Although foreign terrorist organizations remain intent on striking our Homeland, we also face a growing threat from domestic actors. Our enemies seek to spur violence in our communities and divide our society. Combating terrorism and targeted violence requires the combined efforts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or Department), our Federal and state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) government partners and civil society. To address these threats, in September 2019, the Department adopted the 'Strategic Framework for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence' (CTTV Framework) and has now finalized this corresponding Public Action Plan and an extensive internal Implementation Plan. Collectively, these three documents describe specific actions and milestones to achieve the CTTV Framework's goals. These documents will help guide our activities as we adapt to and confront the complex and ever-evolving challenges our Nation faces."