Combating Homegrown Terrorism

PURPOSE:

• To examine the U.S. government’s policy for countering violent extremism within domestic communities.
• To discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) grant program.
• To identify the scope of the homegrown terrorism problem.  

BACKGROUND:

• In 2011, the Obama Administration introduced a plan for community engagement and programming to counter violent extremism. In 2015, they began three pilot programs as part of their larger Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) strategy. 
• Last month, DHS announced a policy review of the CVE program and eliminated 11, while adding 6, organizations that the Obama Administration previously designated for grant funding.
• In December of 2016, National Security Chairman Ron DeSantis traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to meet with federal law enforcement and community leaders to discuss countering violent extremism efforts in the region.