Blocking DHS Funds While Ignoring the Real Border Profiteers
📰 THE STORY: Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) has declared Congress 'cannot fund' the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of a Minneapolis shooting incident, citing reports that the shooter, who killed a police officer and two others, was on the terror watchlist. He suggests DHS is failing to prevent violence, thus making it unworthy of continued financial support. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING
YOU: Historical Context: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) itself was born out of a crisis – the September 11, 2001, attacks – ballooning into a massive federal agency. Its budget has consistently grown, reaching nearly $100 billion for FY2024, yet 'terror watchlists' have long been criticized for their inaccuracy and for disproportionately targeting Muslim and Arab communities, often
without due process. The program known as TSA's 'Quiet Skies' in 2018, for example, controversially monitored American citizens not on watchlists, illustrating the scope creep far beyond initial counter-terrorism mandates. This isn't about one individual's failure; it's a systemic feature of an overreaching security apparatus. Double Standard: When police violence results in civilian deaths, often
disproportionately affecting communities of color, calls for defunding or accountability for law enforcement agencies are fiercely resisted and labeled as 'radical.' Yet, when a single, albeit tragic, event involves an individual on a government watchlist, the immediate response from a 'liberal' senator is to threaten to 'defund' a major security agency. This selective outrage points to a