Patel and McCormick Meet Fentanyl Victims' Families in Allentown

FBI Director warns of 'real' terror threats, ties to border policies as DHS funding fight continues

Apr. 3, 2026 at 11:08pm

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A dynamic, abstract painting featuring overlapping, fractured shapes in shades of blue, grey, and red, conveying a sense of political turmoil and security challenges.Partisan tensions over homeland security funding and border policies fuel concerns over rising terror threats.Allentown Today

FBI Director Kash Patel and Senator David McCormick, R-Pa., met with families affected by the fentanyl crisis in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Patel warned of growing 'terror sleeper-cell threats' in the U.S., tying the danger to past border policies, while McCormick accused Democrats of undermining homeland security through a funding fight with the Department of Homeland Security.

Why it matters

The meeting in Allentown highlights the Biden administration's shifting focus on domestic terror threats, with Patel and McCormick emphasizing the risks posed by foreign-linked extremism over the previous administration's prioritization of white supremacy. The ongoing DHS funding battle also underscores the political tensions around homeland security and border policies.

The details

At the federal courthouse in Allentown, Patel and McCormick spoke about recent terror attacks, including the shooting at Old Dominion University by a convicted ISIS supporter and the car crash into a synagogue allegedly linked to Hezbollah radicalization. McCormick noted hundreds of people on the U.S. terror watch list have crossed the border under the Biden administration. The DHS funding fight has left the agency and its partners like the FBI without proper resources, which Patel warned creates 'opportunities for criminals to take advantage'.

  • Patel and McCormick met with families in Allentown on Wednesday, April 3, 2026.
  • The DHS funding shutdown is on its 49th day as of Friday, April 5, 2026.

The players

Kash Patel

The current Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

David McCormick

A Republican Senator from Pennsylvania.

Mohamed Jalloh

A naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone, who was convicted of supporting ISIS in 2017 and later entered a classroom at Old Dominion University in Norfolk and opened fire, killing one.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali

A suspect who was allegedly radicalized by Iran-backed Hezbollah and crashed his vehicle into a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan that was filled with more than 100 children.

Chuck Schumer

The Democratic Senate Majority Leader, who McCormick accused of using DHS funding as a 'political pawn' during the ongoing shutdown.

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What they’re saying

“President Trump has prioritized defending the homeland and resources to do so. These two recent tragic examples (in Virginia and in Michigan) are an unfortunate, tragic reminder of what happens, specifically in Norfolk, when you let an actual convicted terrorist not finish his jail sentence.”

— Kash Patel, FBI Director

“Many of them are loose in our country. [T]he effort of the administration to close the border, which it's done successfully, is now [to] take those violent criminals and send them home.”

— David McCormick, U.S. Senator

“Every day and every time someone [in DHS] misses a paycheck, it's yet another opportunity for the criminals to take advantage of a system that should be fixed easily.”

— Kash Patel, FBI Director

“It's absolute political theater on the part of Chuck Schumer. The idea that they would use DHS funding as a political pawn during wartime is unforgivable.”

— David McCormick, U.S. Senator

What’s next

The ongoing DHS funding battle in Congress is expected to continue, with both parties accusing the other of playing politics with homeland security resources.

The takeaway

This meeting highlights the shifting political dynamics around domestic terror threats, with the Biden administration's focus on white supremacy giving way to growing concerns over foreign-linked extremism. The DHS funding fight also underscores the deep partisan divides on border security and homeland defense.