Tag: dhs

DHS Says REAL ID, Which DHS Certifies, Is Too Unreliable To Confirm U.S. Citizenship

Only the government could spend 20 years creating a national ID that no one wanted and that apparently doesn’t even work as a national ID.

But that’s what the federal government has accomplished with the REAL ID, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now considers unreliable, even though getting one requires providing proof of citizenship or lawful status in the country.

In a December 11 court filing, Philip Lavoie, the acting assistant special agent in charge of DHS’ Mobile, Alabama, office, stated that, “REAL ID can be unreliable to confirm U.S. citizenship.”

Lavoie’s declaration was in response to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed in October by the Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm, on behalf of Leo Garcia Venegas, an Alabama construction worker. Venegas was detained twice in May and June during immigration raids on private construction sites, despite being a U.S. citizen. In both instances, Venegas’ lawsuit says, masked federal immigration officers entered the private sites without a warrant and began detaining workers based solely on their apparent ethnicity.

And in both instances officers allegedly retrieved Venegas’ Alabama-issued REAL ID from his pocket but claimed it could be fake. Venegas was kept handcuffed and detained for an hour the first time and “between 20 and 30 minutes” the second time before officers ran his information and released him.

Lavoie’s declaration says that the agents “needed to further verify his U.S. citizenship because each state has its own REAL ID compliance laws, which may provide for the issuance of a REAL ID to an alien and therefore based on HSI Special Agent training and experience, REAL ID can be unreliable to confirm U.S. citizenship.”

It’s the punch line to a bad joke with a 20-year windup. When Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005. It was sold as a post-9/11 security measure to create uniform standards for state IDs, including clearly listing citizenship or lawful immigration status. State IDs that conformed to the requirements would be marked with a star. Contrary to the cheeky first sentence of this story, DHS insists that REAL ID is not a national ID system, and that it doesn’t involve a centralized national database. (Civil liberties groups say it amounts to a de facto national ID system anyway.) 

The rub was that REAL IDs would be required for entry to federal property, including, most significantly for the average American, airport security checkpoints. But the law was widely unpopular. There was such low compliance from states that enforcement was delayed seven times over the years, until finally beginning this May.

The project should have been scrapped years ago. America somehow survived two decades of terrorism-free air travel without REAL IDs. As Reason‘s Scott Shackford wrote in 2021, “The government is demanding that Americans give up more of their privacy to the feds, subject themselves to additional inane bureaucracy, and carry around proof that we’re citizens to be able to fly, even though none of that makes us more secure.”

And now we discover that DHS doesn’t even consider the thing proof of citizenship.

In a court filing in response to DHS, the Institute for Justice noted how incredible this position is. “REAL IDs require proof of citizenship or lawful status,” the Institute for Justice wrote. “DHS is the very agency responsible for certifying that REAL IDs, including Alabama’s STAR IDs, satisfy this requirement.”

The law firm argues that DHS’ policy of allowing officers to disregard proof of lawful presence likely violates the Fourth Amendment and DHS’ own regulations.

When asked to comment on Lavoie’s declaration, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Reason: “The INA requires aliens and non-citizens in the US to carry immigration documents. Real IDs are not immigration documents—they make identification harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists.”

But of course, Venegas is a U.S. citizen, so he is not required to carry non-existent immigration documents.

DHS’ statement to Reason when Venegas’ lawsuit was first filed insisted that, “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity.”

The agency never responded to a follow-up question asking why, then, Venegas was targeted.

Keep reading

DHS Says Recording or Following Law Enforcement ‘Sure Sounds Like Obstruction of Justice’

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says recording or following federal law enforcement “sure sounds like obstruction of justice,” despite federal circuit courts repeatedly ruling that such activity is core First Amendment speech.

In response to a question from Reason asking if the department considered following or recording a federal law enforcement officer to be obstruction of justice, the DHS Office of Public Affairs said in an emailed statement attributed to an unnamed spokesperson: “That sure sounds like obstruction of justice. Our brave ICE law enforcement face a more than 1150% increase in assaults against them. If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

It’s one of the most direct public statements yet from DHS articulating a policy that treats following, recording, and revealing the identities of federal immigration officers as illegal activity. There have been months of news reports and viral showing federal immigration officers threatening, brandishing weapons, and violently detaining people for following and recording them in public. 

David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, collected dozens of these instances in a report released earlier this month. Bier concluded that the amount of video evidence, in conjunction memos and public statements from DHS leadership, amounts to “an official, nationwide policy of intimidating and threatening people who attempt to observe and record [DHS] operations.”

Civil libertarians say it’s an unconstitutional policy. Although the Supreme Court has declined to address the issue, seven federal circuit courts have firmly upheld the right to record and monitor the police, as long as one doesn’t physically interfere with them. 

“Observing, following, and recording law enforcement are unambiguously protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution,” Bier tells Reason. “They are not obstruction of justice. The right to record helps guarantee justice by ensuring accountability and an accurate record of events.”

For example, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit concluded in 2017 that “First Amendment principles, controlling authority, and persuasive precedent demonstrate that a First Amendment right to record the police does exist, subject only to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit joined the club in 2022, when it ruled that a Colorado man had presented a clear First Amendment retaliation claim against a police officer who prevented him from filming a traffic stop.

Likewise, courts have frequently ruled that the First Amendment protects the right to warn others of police activity, such as flashing one’s headlights to warn of a speed trap ahead. In 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that a Connecticut man’s First Amendment rights were violated when police arrested him for holding a sign warning drivers of police activity ahead.

“The right to record publicly visible law enforcement activity is a core First Amendment right,” says Scarlet Kim, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “It creates an independent record of what officers are doing, and it is no accident that some of the most high-profile cases of misconduct have involved video recordings. The burning question is why ICE officers feel the need to hide who they are and what they do from the public—masking their faces, lacking visible ID, driving unmarked vehicles, and now attacking those who document their activities.”

The guiding First Amendment principle behind these court decisions was most memorably expressed in the 1987 Supreme Court ruling in Houston v. Hill, which struck down a Houston ordinance that made it unlawful to oppose or interrupt a police officer: “The freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state,” Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote.

Keep reading

DHS: Biden Released Chinese Illegal Alien with New York CDL Killed Tennessee Trucker – Feds Blast Sanctuary Licensing Practices

A fatal crash in Tennessee has ignited a national firestorm over New York’s commercial driver licensing practices. Following an inquiry from Breitbart Texas, federal officials confirmed the bus driver responsible was an illegal alien from China who failed basic English proficiency, yet still obtained a New York CDL. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy threatened earlier this week to strip the state of $73 million in federal highway funds unless it revokes licenses issued to illegal aliens.

On December 9, 54‑year‑old Yisong Huang allegedly rear‑ended a tractor‑trailer on I‑40 westbound, triggering a chain reaction that killed Kerry Smith, an American truck driver, and injured two others, Breitbart Texas reported. Investigators say Huang was distracted by a video on his phone at the time of the crash. Fortunately, his bus carried no passengers.

“A Chinese national driving a motorcoach slammed into a vehicle in Tennessee, killing an individual and causing a major traffic jam this week,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote in a post on social media shortly after the crash. “And to make matters worse: this driver had a non-domiciled CDL from NY and couldn’t speak English!”

Despite admitting to Border Patrol agents in 2023 that he had entered the country unlawfully from Mexico, Huang was released into the U.S. by the Biden Administration and provided with work authorization papers and a Social Security card. Those documents enabled him to obtain a Class B CDL in New York, setting the stage for last week’s fatal pile‑up.

Keep reading

Former Israeli spies now overseeing US government cybersecurity

A company with deep ties to Israeli intelligence oversees cyber security across more than seventy US government agencies, including the Department of Defense and Homeland Security.

Axonius was founded by former spies in Israel’s Unit 8200 and its software, which allows an operator ‘visibility and control over all types and number of devices,’ collects and analyses the digital data of millions of US federal employees.

The stated aim of the Axonius platform is to centralize IT tools to identity and fix security breaches. As a product of Israeli intelligence, however, the scale of Axonius’s use across the US government raises serious questions.

Axonius was founded and is currently run by Israelis Dean Sysman, Ofri Shur and Avidor Bartov, who met in the 2010s while working on the same team within Israel’s Unit 8200 spy service. On his LinkedIn profile, Sysman offers few details of their work for the IDF, describing it simply as having ‘far-reaching implications.’

Keep reading

MINNESOTA SCANDAL EXPLODES: Over 480 DHS Employees Accuse Gov. Tim Walz of Orchestrating Massive Cover-Up — Retaliated Against Whistleblowers to Shield Somali Illegal Fraud Ring That Stole Over $1 Billion

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is under fire after employees from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) issued a bombshell statement accusing the far-left governor of orchestrating a sweeping cover-up to shield a sprawling Somali immigrant fraud ring that stole more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds and punishing whistleblowers who tried to stop it.

According to DHS insiders, Walz not only ignored early warnings but actively retaliated against agency employees who sounded the alarm.

They now accuse his administration of using political intimidation, monitoring, threats, and agency manipulation to suppress evidence and silence witnesses.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, 70 members of the Somali community in Minnesota were involved in stealing $250 million in COVID funds that were intended to feed children.

Millions of dollars were stolen from American taxpayers and sent overseas to Somalia, and 80% of the money has not been recovered.

Seven defendants were tried in connection with the scheme on charges related to stealing more than $40 million in taxpayer funds, and five were found guilty. However, the FBI is still investigating an attempt by a Somali woman to bribe one of the jurors with $120,000 in cash.

However, the fraud extends deeper, with multiple schemes of this nature occurring over the last five years.

Per the New York Times, “Federal prosecutors say that 59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far, and that more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ money has been stolen in three plots they are investigating.”

During an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Walz responded by touting Minnesota’s “generosity” and claiming the state attracts opportunists because it is “prosperous and well-run.”

Rather than taking accountability, he dismissed concerns about foreign-led theft as lazy demonization.

Keep reading

Noem Awards TSA Staff $10,000 Bonuses for Working During Shutdown

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem handed out $10,000 bonus checks on Nov. 13 to thousands of frontline Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers who stayed on the job during the federal government shutdown.

About 47,000 agents who worked through the 43-day shutdown despite not getting paychecks will be awarded a bonus along with back pay, according to Noem.

“We are going to not only continue their paychecks like they should have received all along, but also they’re going to get a bonus check for stepping up, taking on extra shifts, for showing up each and every day, for serving the American people,” Noem said at a news conference at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

The officers were thanked for taking seriously every day the mission of the Department of Homeland Security, “and that’s keeping the American people safe while they go and commute across the country, and while they do their work and business and take care of their families,” Noem added.

A couple of the officers were singled out for their “exemplary” service and for taking on more hours and shifts during the shutdown.

“They were examples to the rest of the individuals that worked with them, and endured those hardships and continued to shine a light on what is special about America,” Noem said.

Keep reading

Appeals Court to Lefty Judge and Her Insane Border Patrol Ruling: Lady, You’re Not Doing This Right Now

A federal appeals court ruled that a lunatic judge’s ruling for the Border Patrol can be ignored at this time. Judge Sarah Ellis decided that she had appointed herself the chief of operations for immigration enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security with her silly ruling about mandatory body cameras for ICE agents. On this ruling, she ordered Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino to meet with her daily. Luckily, the Seventh Circuit put the kibosh on that, at least for now (via CBS News).

A federal appeals court granted a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for an administrative stay pausing an order that requires Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino to meet in person with Judge Sara Ellis each day.

Judge Ellis ordered the meetings after a hearing on Tuesday in federal court over alleged violations by Bovino and other federal agents of her temporary restraining order largely prohibiting the use of tear gas and other riot control measures on journalists, protesters and clergy during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. 

In response to numerous filings regarding violations of that order, Ellis instructed Bovino to meet with her every weekday evening to go over the events of the day until a preliminary injunction hearing on Nov. 5. 

In their filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, lawyers for the government argue the order “far exceeds the recognized bounds of discovery” and “significantly interferes” with Bovino’s function, which the government argues is “ensuring the Nation’s immigration laws are properly enforced.” 

They also argue the meetings are “untethered to the plaintiffs’ underlying claims” and go beyond reasonable necessity to comply with the court orders already in place.

Keep reading

DHS Expands Nationwide Airport Biometric Tracking

The Department of Homeland Security has introduced a new rule that will greatly expand biometric tracking at US borders, establishing a system to photograph and identify every non-citizen who enters or leaves the country.

Although the regulation applies to non-citizens, the cameras do not distinguish citizens from non-citizens in real time.

CBP says US citizens may opt out by presenting their passports manually, and that photos of citizens are deleted within twelve hours once nationality is confirmed. However, that’s after the fact.

Starting December 26, Customs and Border Protection will have authority to take photographs of “all aliens” not only at airports and land crossings but at “any other point of departure” the agency designates.

We obtained a copy of the rule for you here.

DHS describes the change as “operational modernization.”

Keep reading

DHS Refers Chicago “NO KINGS” Rioter to DOJ After Calls for Cold-Blooded Murder of ICE Agents: “We Will Hunt You Down, We Will Find You”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has officially referred a suspect during the “No Kings” protest for prosecution by the Department of Justice (DOJ) after that individual was captured on video threatening agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with cold-blooded murder.

The individual incited violence while surrounded by other protesters chanting anti-law-enforcement and anti-border-agents slogans, as captured by Christopher Sweat, Co-Founder & CEO of Graystak Media.

“You gotta grab a gun. We gotta turn around the guns on this fascist system. These ICE agents gotta get shot and wiped out. This same machinery that’s on full display right there has to get wiped out,” the unhinged man screaming during the “No Kings” protest Saturday.

The individual alleged to have made the threatening comments has been identified by online users as Moises Bernal Puentes, an Adult Education Manager at Chicago’s Wilbur Wright College, American Greatness reported.

However, The Gateway Pundit has not independently verified this claim.

On Monday, Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) urged the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into Puentes’ alleged “criminal threat.”

“Sickening. A staff member at Wilbur Wright College is calling for ICE agents to get “shot” and “wiped out.” This is a criminal threat that should be investigated,” she wrote, tagging the DOJ.

Keep reading

Convicted Pedophile Illegal Alien Released by Sanctuary City, Arrested Again

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest of Rick Martinez Lopez, an illegal alien from Guatemala with multiple convictions in Virginia. 

Despite his history as a convicted pedophile and registered sex offender, the Richmond City Jail released him in August after refusing to honor an ICE detainer. 

That decision allowed a violent criminal back into the community, proving that the consequences of sanctuary policies are not abstract but dangerously real.

Martinez Lopez’s record is extensive and alarming. His convictions include sexual assault of a child, failure to register as a sex offender, and probation violations. 

He was a known threat, yet local officials chose to ignore a lawful detainer request from federal immigration authorities. 

Instead of cooperating with ICE, Richmond authorities prioritized political ideology over public safety, enabling a repeat offender to walk free in Virginia neighborhoods.

The release demonstrates how sanctuary policies function in practice. 

Federal immigration officers attempted to carry out their duties, but local officials refused to cooperate, placing ideology above enforcement. 

These policies undermine public trust and erode the ability of federal officers to protect communities from individuals already proven dangerous. 

Rather than safeguarding families, sanctuary decisions increase the likelihood that predators remain in close proximity to vulnerable populations.

Martinez Lopez entered the United States illegally at an unknown time and place, bypassing any form of lawful inspection. 

His presence in the country reflects how failures at the border combine with sanctuary loopholes to create lasting dangers. 

When local governments decline to assist federal officers, the result is not community protection but heightened risk. 

Communities are forced to live with the consequences of criminals shielded from deportation.

After his release, Martinez Lopez spent weeks freely moving about before ICE finally apprehended him on October 14. 

Keep reading