SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (KGTV) — A San Diego County Supervisor is calling on President Joe Biden to declare a national terrorism alert.
But the request begs the question, what is that? And what would it even do?
Supervisor Jim Desmond has a long track record of calling out the federal government over claims it hasn't acted to fix the problems at the border.
"Our border unfortunately has been wide open," Desmond says explaining his comments.
Earlier this month, eight Tajikistan nationals were arrested in the U.S. on immigration violations, accused of having ties to ISIS. The arrests have led Desmond to publicly declare he wants a "national terrorism alert" issued.
There are five different levels of terrorism advisories the U.S. Department of Homeland Security can issue. Those advisories range from low to severe but don't require any policy changes. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the National Terrorism Advisory System is "designed to communicate information about terrorist threats by providing timely, detailed information to the American public."
Desmond did not specify which level he wanted to see issued, but ABC 10News asked the conservative supervisor if his request was political, or in an attempt to be productive. Specifically, Desmond was asked if an alert would actually do anything.
"You know, a lot of things is bringing attention to things and getting people to concentrate and look at it," Desmond responded. "You don't always solve problems that way, but by bringing people's attention to things, you get more people thinking about it. Then, possibly, we can reach solutions."
In his request, Desmond pointed to comments from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who said in April he feared a coordinated attack on the U.S.
Wray added the threat level has never been higher.
"My main effort is we want to get more people that are coming across the border vetted, so we don't have terrorists in our country," Desmond told ABC 10News.
Even with the arrests of the Tajikistan nationals, Desmond knows his request is probably not going anywhere with the President.
As for whether the call for the terrorist advisory was political theater or not, he says he had to try something.
"You got to start a spark somewhere," Desmond continued. I'm trying not to spread alarm, but it's already out there. I'm just trying to make people aware of what's going on. I'm not anti-immigration. I want immigrants to come here, but we need a safe, dignified system that works and what we have isn't and it's allowing bad people in."
