Illegal gang activity ''on the other side of the border is spilling over'' into the United States, FBI Director Christopher Wray said while testifying before Congress this week.
At an oversight hearing from the House Judiciary Committee, Wray was asked about gang activity in United States, saying that ''we have seen quite a number of'' people crossing the border being indebted to cartels or to smugglers.
He added, ''There’s no question that the cartel activity on the other side of the border is spilling over in all sorts of ways, and you just put your finger on one that’s extremely concerning to us all.''
''Different cartels have different affiliations with gangs here in the United States," the FBI director said. "There’s not just human trafficking from a labor perspective, but also sex trafficking.
''We have a number of human trafficking task forces as well as working on certain task forces with [Department of Homeland Security] to try to address that issue," he said.
Wray also said that he is "not aware of any investigation" of former President Donald Trump over the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.
"I'm not aware of any investigation that specifically goes to that, but we have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of investigations related to January 6, involving lots and lots of different pieces of it," he said.
"This is a very ongoing investigation and there's a lot more to come," Wray said. "I would expect to see more charges — some of them maybe more serious charges."
Wray went on to testify that the FBI "does not and should not police ideology" or "investigate groups or individuals based on the exercise of First Amendment-protected activity alone. But when we encounter violence and threats to public safety, the FBI will not hesitate to take appropriate action.''
He added that the FBI does consider the Capitol riot an instance of ''domestic terrorism,'' but would not use the word ''insurrection'' to describe it.
"In my role as FBI director, because that's a term that has legal meaning, I really have to be careful about using words like that," Wray said.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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