By Ben Johnson

The recent attacks on immigration facilities show America may be living in the most dangerous point in our history. Imagine watching one of the many, well-funded left-wing riots targeting the Trump administration — attacking ICE agents, looting stores, trying to burn down police stations or federal buildings. Now imagine, as a bare-chested illegal immigrant bellows and hoists a Mexican flag over the corpse of a burning Tesla, another masked figure suddenly runs behind him yelling “Allahu akbar!” as he detonates an entire city block.

Scenario two: Imagine the same left-wing riot. Police, supplemented by National Guard forces, try valiantly to restrain the violence of the radical rioters in the streets. As the Left consumes the full attention and resources of regional law enforcement, an explosion rings out on the other, unprotected side of town. An Islamist terrorist group later claims responsibility for the carnage.

Large, angry, anti-American crowds — many of whom are protesting in favor of Hezbollah or Hamas in the first place — do what the Left does best: They provide a “safe space” for dangerous actors.

Unfortunately, the concern is no longer theoretical — and the assault is led, not by foreign terrorists but by homegrown, left-wing domestic terrorists.

Early in the morning of Monday, July 7, a black-clad gunman wearing tactical gear opened fire at the U.S. Border Patrol annex building at the airport in McAllen, Texas. The assailant injured a McAllen police officer before officers eventually killed the man, 29-year-old Ryan Luis Mosqueda of Luddington, Michigan.

That follows another shooting last Thursday night, July 3, at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Officers say a group of 10 radicals shot fireworks at the facility, spray-painted hateful messages on the building, and lured police to the scene. When an officer with the Alvarado Police Department responded, the protesters (allegedly) shot him in the neck. “This was an ambush on federal and local law enforcement officers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson. The terrorists had “AR-style rifles,” body armor, and two-way radios, according to the Justice Department.

Worse yet, Democratic officials have incited their constituents to rise up against their own government, glorifying lawlessness and demonizing the lawful government “ordained by God”:

• “ICE is acting like a terrorist force,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who recently stepped down as chair of the House Progressive Caucus, on July 1. “People across the country of all legal statuses — including U.S. citizens — are being kidnapped and disappeared off the street by masked men.”
• At a May commencement address, 2024 vice presidential candidate Tim Walz called ICE “Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.” The Minnesota governor and potential 2028 presidential hopeful later defended his remarks in congressional testimony, saying, “I think it’s okay to bully the bully at times.”
• In May, San Diego councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera (D) denounced legal immigration enforcement as “state-sponsored terrorism. And anyone who cares about freedom — and true safety — should be fighting back.”
• This week, San Antonio council candidate Matthew Gauna vented his blood lust against law enforcement, hoping ICE agents “will get shot by the Los Angeles public. I wanna see a few dead ICE agents Los Angeles! Don’t let me down.”
• Even on Fox News, Jessica Tarlov accused a San Antonio ICE detention facility of presiding over “a huge spike in 911 calls” reporting “sexual abuse.”

“We certainly call on Democrats to tone down their rhetoric against ICE and Border Patrol agents,” said Karoline Leavitt at Monday’s White House press briefing. But after the first assassination attempt against President Trump, Democrats merely ratcheted up the rhetoric. And for some, rhetoric alone no longer satisfies.

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) got arrested while apparently attempting to storm the podium at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference. Three Democratic members of Congress attempted to force their way into the Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey. But arrests also failed to satiate the radical Left’s bloodlust.

Axios revealed this week that “two dozen House Democrats” warned them some Democratic voters long for bloodshed. One House Democrat told Axios his constituents told him “there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public.” Another Democratic congressman likened his party’s base to one of the most infamous anti-Christian mobs: “It’s like … the Roman coliseum.”

In this context, attacks on ICE or Border Patrol agents have steadily risen — 413% by late May, 500% by June, and 690% (year-on-year) by this week. Why would an Islamist sleeper cell not utilize these groups to unleash destruction on The Great Satan?

Violent Islamist terrorists may no longer stand out in a sea of left-wing protesters. In 2023, the viral trend sweeping TikTok featured left-wing users posting their glowing reactions to Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America.” A representative response came from trans-identifying horror novelist Gretchen Felker-Martin, who claimed that “blowing up the World Trade Center is probably the most principled and defensible thing he did.”

From the 1619 Project, to DEI and CRT, young American minds have marinated in a toxic academic stew that makes Noam Chomsky look like Russell Kirk. The new, radical anti-American Left jettisoned the virtue of nonviolence to embrace physical, even armed, “resistance.” A significant cohort of the Left has lionized (accused) murderer Luigi Mangione. Hard-left ideologues, merged with paid protesters, form a permanent fifth column occupying America’s streets. And into their midst may easily slip Islamist terrorist provocateurs whose hatred for this country differs from the Left’s only in degree.

Nor is it likely that Iran will let the U.S.-led degradation of their cherished nuclear program go unpunished. Despite backing off publicly, the Ayatollah Khamenei rules the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. He commands a vast, global network of terrorist organizations that have shown little reticence about killing Americans.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a national terrorism advisory coinciding with Operation Midnight Hammer warning, “The ongoing Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States,” increasing the “likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict … [T]he ongoing Israel-Iran conflict could contribute to US-based individuals plotting additional attacks.”

Terrorism has often followed U.S. military action. In 1983, President Reagan intervened in the civil war in Lebanon. That October 23, Hezbollah terrorists killed 241 Marines and sailors. The president withdrew troops, and he later calling the incident the worst mistake of his presidency. The attack inspired a petty Saudi sultan named Osama bin Laden to realize terrorism would become the greatest weapon against America.

All seemed quiet after the United States bombed then-Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi in 1986, reportedly killing his infant daughter. Ronald Reagan appeared to have quelled the threat of terrorism and restored peace through strength. Then on December 21, 1988, Libyan terrorists blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers, including 190 Americans.

Americans anywhere are vulnerable to terrorism — and the last administration’s open borders policies have made us targets in our own country. The Biden-Harris administration released 729 Iranians caught illegally crossing the U.S. border(s), letting them reach their destination in the U.S. homeland.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used to muse about “known unknowns.” The phrase, hammered out in the fog of an unsuccessful forever war, takes on special poignancy when contemplating the two million known gotaways from every corner of the world swelling the ranks of America’s anonymous “newcomers.”

By definition, sleeper cells could lurk anywhere. “There is a possibility that sleeper cells could target more rural states instead of a large city,” former FBI agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News. “In fact, considering the evolution of attacks by fundamental Islamic attackers we’ve seen in Israel on October 7th, 2023 and in India this year, it is possible that a similar attack could happen at a rural, outdoor entertainment venue or populated vacation spot.” (Note to the terrorists: Heed the Jason Aldean song.)

Whatever their target, we know of hundreds of Iranian illegal immigrants burrowed into America’s homeland. Osama bin Laden pulled off 9/11 with a crew of 19, who entered the U.S. legally but overstayed their visas. Iran may have sent enough personnel into the U.S. during the last administration to pull off 38 attacks the scale of 9/11.

Border security is national security. Christians, whose empathy has too often been weaponized against traditional Christian teachings, must remain clear-eyed about the virtue of enforcing strict immigration controls.

America and the West must recover its sense of patriotism, its self-assurance about its own right to exist, and the Christian belief that political disputes should not be settled through violence. Otherwise, a post-Christian America may pave the way for murderous Islamist terrorism to erupt in our homeland.

Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.