The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the threat from both foreign and domestic terrorism over the coming year remains high.
As part of its 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment report released on Oct. 2, DHS said that a number of factors, including violent extremist responses to domestic sociopolitical developments, like the 2024 election cycle, and international events, like the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, are expected to maintain a high threat level over the coming year.
Additionally, the influence of illegal drugs in the country continue to pose a lethal threat to communities across the United States. DHS said it has increased resources to address the threat, resulting in the seizure of more fentanyl in the last two fiscal years than in the prior five years combined, but that fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, as well as adulterated cocaine and methamphetamine, continue to pose a national security threat.
“The Homeland Security Assessment provides an important overview of the dynamic and evolving threat landscape, illustrating just how varied and challenging the threats we confront are,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said. “It is because of the remarkable DHS workforce, and our close collaboration with our federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners, that we are able to meet the challenges and keep the American people safe and secure.”
Other threats include the influence operations where state actors will use subversive tactics in an effort to stroke discord and undermine confidence in U.S. institutions; and border and immigration security posed by individuals with criminal connections seeking to continue to exploit migrants.
DHS said it also expects domestic and foreign adversaries to continue to target U.S. critical infrastructure through cyber and physical attacks.