Mayorkas says no ‘specific, credible threat’ to the US homeland as he marks 9/11 anniversary

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Reading of the names of the people who perished in the 9/11 attacks

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Saturday said that there is "no specific, credible threat" to the U.S. homeland -- as he traveled to New York City to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

"I’m very proud to be here in New York City this morning to pay tribute to the lives lost as a result of the 9/11 attacks," Mayorkas said on CNN. "This country, 20 years, later is stronger and more secure than ever before."

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Mayorkas was asked again about the assessment of the terror threat, and past remarks that there was no known specific threat as the anniversary approached.

"That, indeed, remains true," he said. "There is no specific credible threat to the homeland at this time and what we do is we remain vigilant every single day."

He described a "multi-layered" approach to ensure the safety of the American people across government and state and local partners, and paid tribute to the 250,000 people working for DHS across the country and around the world.

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"I think we in the federal government are working more cohesively, more collaboratively than ever before," he said.

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Mayorkas was attending a ceremony in 9/11 Memorial Plaza in New York City, including President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and other top and former officials including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Attorney General Merrick Garland, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

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Earlier this week, Mayorkas had told CBS News that DHS is doing "everything possible" to make sure terrorists released by the Taliban don't get into the United States as part of the Afghan evacuees being brought into the U.S.

"We have no evidence that they have," he said.

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He also said that the primary threat had shifted from foreign terrorists to domestic extremism.

"We've seen the threat evolve from the foreign terrorists seeking to enter the United States to the individual here radicalized to violence by a foreign terrorist ideology, to now what we consider the most serious terrorism related threat on our homeland, which is the domestic violent extremists," he said.