The Charity & Security Network, joined by 42 civil liberties, human rights and racial justice organizations, has signed onto a letter expressing grave concerns about a proposed bill that would create a division devoted to “countering violent extremism” (CVE) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The office would be headed by a new Assistant Secretary and supported by a career Deputy Assistant Secretary, and the bill allocates $10 million annually from the budget of the Office of the Secretary of DHS to this new program.
H.R. 2899, The Countering Violent Extremism Act of 2015, was introduced by Rep. Michael McCaul (D-TX) June 25. A hearing on the bill was held July 15 in the House Committee on Homeland Security, followed by bill markup. Representatives from DHS did not attend the hearing, while many observers have speculated on the reasons for its absence. The bill passed out of committee that evening on a voice vote.
While the bill is intended to address all types of violent extremism, including both Islamic and racially motivated terrorism, such as the June 2015 shooting of nine churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., there is concern that in practice the targets of DHS efforts would be Muslim. At least one witness testifying at the July 15 hearing also stressed that efforts to counter radical ideologies and messaging must be focused at the grassroots level rather than government-driven.
The joint letter, sent to Rep. McCaul and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) July 10, asserts that “this effort is misguided and likely to be harmful.” The letter explains that despite years of experience with CVE programming in the U.S. and abroad, “there is no evidentiary basis for concluding that these programs contribute to reducing terrorism, which is their stated goal.” It goes on to state that there is no reliable criteria that can be used to predict who will commit a terrorist act and that the program would result in further civil rights and privacy violations, unreliable reporting to law enforcement, and a waste of federal dollars.
The letter cites intense opposition to pilot CVE programs rolled out earlier this year in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, which critics say only serve to alienate communities and fan the flames of extremism. The letter asserts that any further plans on CVE should await the results of ongoing independent evaluations of these pilot programs. It adds that CVE efforts threaten freedom of speech, association and religion. “The risk factors that government agencies put forward often include common behaviors associated with religious practice and political activism. To date, CVE programs have almost exclusively targeted American Muslim communities, often while explicitly acknowledging that acts of domestic terrorism have emanated from many ideological sources.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.