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1 [1] (September 19, 2014)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthaaelt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS Insights American Foreign Fighters and the Islamic State: Broad Challenges for Federal Law Enforcement Jerome P. Bjelopera, Specialist in Organized Crime and Terrorism (ibielopera crs oc.aov, 7-0622) nLpembr 9 2141N0154) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has assessed that the terrorist group known as the !-Stat (IS, previously referred to as ISIS or ISIL) currently poses n s ifi r creil thr t thbe oeland. The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Matthew G. Olsen, has anQted that, any threat to the U.S. homeland from these types of extremists is likely to be limited in scope and scale, perhaps involving individuals acting without specific IS direction. In this vein, ic makers ninu to voice concerns about American IS fighters who may leave Syria or Iraq, return to the United States, and strike targets on their own at home. This CRS Insight offers a framework for considering the challenges to domestic security posed by American IS fighters and outlines some of the ways that U.S. law enforcement responds to such challenges. Foreign Fighters are American citizens, legal permanent residents, or aliens who radicalized in the United States and plotted to or traveled abroad to join a foreign terrorist group. The Challenges There is scant publicly available information on Americans fighting for the Islamic State. However, the Islamic State and its American acolytes may conceivably present at least three broad challenges for domestic law enforcement. These challenges involve handling: * The Departed. A few Americans, often described as foreign fighters, have left the United States to fight for the Islamic State. About 100 peope from h nited t have joined factions-not just the Islamic State-fighting in the Syrian civil war. * The Returned. These are American foreign fighters with terrorist training and/or battlefield experience who may come back to the United States, where they can potentially plan and execute attacks at home. There have been no public reports of Americans (or others) who fought with the Islamic State coming back to the United States and conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. This challenge for U.S. law enforcement also potentially includes fighters who radicalized in and originated from other countries-particularly Western nations-and may enter the United States when done fighting abroad. * The Inspired. The fighting in Syria and Iraq has spawned propaganda that may atirsQre Americana to nplt atks at home without ever leaving to fight abroad. Promoting the cause- propaganda-is central to terrorism. IS members appear adept at harnessing social media to spread their message, among other means. There have been reports that the Isami h an American helping to organize its social media output. The group has been described as exremel h- nd mi , dispersing varied ropaganda mteri; and while much of this work has been geared at drawing recruits into the fight in Syria and Iraq, it may also inspire people in the United States to rdialize and rik hme without venturing abroad. Responding to the Challenges It seems that the domestic threat potentially presented by IS-the departed, the returned, and the inspired-largely requires identifying individuals who pose a danger and preempting their attempts to harm the homeland. A number of important federal identification and preemption efforts in the counterterrorism arena are described below. Identifying Potential Terrorists