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Our Opinion: Starting at home

Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly told U.S. senators this week that if they confirm him as the nation’s next leader of the Department of Homeland Security, his top priority will be closing the nation’s borders to “illegal movement of people and things.”

Given what his potential boss, President-elect Donald Trump, said on the campaign trail, that comes as no surprise. But close behind that priority should be another very important one.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Kelly will head the agency most Americans feel is responsible for keeping us safe from terrorists. In some ways, the agency, created after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America, has done a truly excellent job in that regard.

But in others — notably, identifying home-grown terrorists and stopping them before they kill — the results have been decidedly mixed. Dozens of Americans have lost their lives to gunmen and bombers who have been in this country legally for years, and have been radicalized by Muslim terrorist groups such as the Islamic State.

Civil rights are a concern in dealing with people living in our country legally, whether as citizens or not, of course. People cannot be taken into custody simply because federal agents think they might pose a threat.

More needs to be done to identify genuine risks and stop them before they kill.

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