A former Department of Homeland Security adviser is sounding the alarm, warning that the United States faces an elevated risk of sleeper cell activity and urging federal officials to raise the national terror threat level.
Charles Marino, a former Secret Service supervisory agent who previously advised DHS, made the remarks Monday during an appearance on Fox & Friends First. His comments come on the heels of the joint U.S.–Israeli strikes that killed several senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and amid an ongoing investigation into a deadly shooting at a Texas bar being examined as possible terrorism.
“We are facing a wide variety of threats here, and the problem is, they’re all located within our own borders right now,” Marino said.
According to Marino, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are already operating at an elevated threat posture. “There’s no doubt that law enforcement and intelligence agencies are operating at an elevated threat level here in the United States,” he explained. He argued that this posture is based on what he called the “correct operating assumption” that the country has been infiltrated by a “myriad of threats from around the globe.”
Marino directly tied those concerns to years of weak border enforcement. He criticized what he described as the Biden administration turning the southern border “into a sieve,” allowing vulnerabilities to multiply. He pointed to what he called “the undercutting and exploitation” of asylum and temporary protected status programs, as well as weaknesses in the broader legal immigration system.
“What you have is you now have communities comprised of immigrants in the United States that have been allowed to segregate themselves based on culture and ideologies, and what this leads to is an ability to become radicalized,” Marino said. He added that radicalization can affect not only foreign nationals but also American citizens, particularly those dealing with mental health struggles or personal crises.
Beyond soft targets such as restaurants or public gatherings, Marino warned that critical infrastructure and cybersecurity systems could also be at risk. He urged DHS to formally raise the National Terrorism Advisory System level and encouraged Americans to remain vigilant, reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement.
Former ATF Special Agent in Charge Bernard Zapor echoed those concerns, arguing that political infighting in Washington must not undermine public safety. “Our public safety has to be paramount above all,” Zapor said, stressing that national security should never be sacrificed to partisan battles.
With overseas tensions rising and authorities investigating potential terror activity at home, security officials are emphasizing preparedness. For them, the threat environment is no longer abstract. It is immediate, complex, and, in their view, demanding urgent attention from both policymakers and the public.