The Department of Homeland Security says one Washington D.C. official found a decapitated, burned animal carcass on their front porch, following the president’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy on immigration.
The agency says it is seeing an uptick in threats to employees, with two dozen reports of threats mainly to it’s Immigration and Custom Enforcement employees, in the past few days alone.
In a letter circulated department-wide over the weekend, the DHS cautioned there is a ‘heightened threat against DHS employees’ in response to the recent government actions against illegal immigration.
‘This assessment is based on specific and credible threats that have been levied against certain DHS employees and a sharp increase in the overall number of general threats against DHS employees,’ Claire Grady, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, wrote to employees on Saturday, according to ABC News.
The Trump administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy on immigration, including separating young children from their adult family members facing criminal charges for illegal border crossings, has faced backlash nationwide and now individual employees are facing violent threats (pictured is a detention center with children and adults being detained in McAllen, Texas
Protests, like this one in New York, are part of a larger movement against the admistraions policy of separating migrants from their children. Now DHS employees are reporting threats being made against them, with one staffer in DC reporting they found a decapitated, burned animal carcass on their porch
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on immigration policy with DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Vice President Mike Pence at his sides in the Oval Office at the White House Wednesday
It is unclear when the unidentified DHS employee in D.C. found the carcass on their porch.
The threats against DHS employees however have been mostly made online, with each member who has been targeted with violence specifically, being personally contacted by DHS security.
The targeted threats are mostly against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers specifically.
ABC News reports that it is unclear how much the threats have increased.
Protests erupted around the country in the past weeks, with calls for the Trump administration to end the separation of children from their families who have crossed the border illegally.
Trump enforced the zero tolerance policy in early May, since then around 2,300 children have been separated from their parents who are facing federal prosecution.
However, on Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order that said he would keep families together during criminal proceedings.
Even though the president has now ordered that families be kept together in detention during immigration proceedings, it remained unclear where families would be held while the parents face criminal charges.
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled while eating at a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C.
Following that, protesters arrived at her Virginia home, playing audio of children crying on loop, while they chanted ‘Shame!’
Activists chant slogans as they interrupt U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s (top R) dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C. on June 19
Protesters gathered outside Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s home in Virginia after she became the face of Trump’s family separation policy
Additionally, on Thursday WikiLeaks published a database identifying more than 9,000 current and former employees of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, amid mounting criticism of the agency’s separation of migrant families.
The organization, founded by hacker Julian Assange, claimed the searchable database, named ‘ICE Patrol’, would ‘increase accountability’ and serve as an ‘important public resource’.
It contains information and photos gleaned from the LinkedIn accounts of ICE employees from bosses to interns, and is searchable by location, job title, school attended and field of study.
‘People can disagree on policy,’ ICE spokeswoman Liz Johnson said in a statement to ABC News, ‘but it is unconscionable to target our employees and advocate violence against federal law enforcement officers.’