Tag: dhs

DHS has begun performing polygraph tests on employees to find leakers

The Department of Homeland Security has begun performing polygraph tests on employees to determine who might be leaking information to the media about immigration operations, according to four sources familiar with the practice.

The department’s plans to perform these tests was first reported by Bloomberg Government.

A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Border czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have blamed lower-than-expected ICE arrest numbers on recent leaks revealing the cities where it planned to conduct operations.

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DHS Chief Kristi Noem Says Leakers of ICE Raids Identified – Face Up to 10 Years in Federal Prison Each

DHS Chief Kristi Noem said her investigators have identified two leakers within the Department of Homeland Security and are preparing to refer them to the Justice Department for felony prosecutions.

“These individuals face up to 10 years in federal prison,” Noem said.

“We will find and root out all leakers. They will face prison time and we will get justice for the American people,” Noem warned.

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DHS Ends TSA Collective Bargaining After Bombshell Finding Of ‘More Full-Time Union Workers’ Than Airport Screeners

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending collective bargaining for Transportation Security Officers with the TSA, Fox News reports, citing a release obtained by Fox Business.

According to the report, The TSA has more people doing “full-time union work” vs. performing actual screening functions at 86% of US airports. Put another way, 374 out of 432 federalized airports have fewer than 200 TSA Officers to perform screening functions, while the rest are paid by the government but work “full-time on union matters” and do not retain certification to perform screening.

What’s more, DHS cited a recent TSA employee survey which found that over 60% of “poor performers” are allowed to stay employed and “not surprisingly, continue to not perform.”

(Also, maybe get rid of the nut-grabbers in the TSA patdown area when we don’t want to submit to those Total Recall scanners made by Leidos – formerly SAIC).

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In Effort to “Compel” Self-Deportation, Trump DHS Says Illegal Aliens Must Register in Online Database or Face Prison Time, Fines

President Trump escalated his efforts to curb illegal immigration on Tuesday by requiring aliens to register in a tracking database or face prison time and fines.

The Trump Administration is encouraging illegal aliens to self-deport with the new tracking system.

The DHS said illegal aliens will face harsh penalties if they don’t submit fingerprints or disclose to the government if their address has changed.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

The Trump administration created a registry for immigrants in the U.S. illegally to submit their personal information or face fines and prison time, according to documents including a draft regulation seen by The Wall Street Journal.

Immigrants in the country illegally including children 14 and older would be required to submit fingerprints and home addresses to the registry, the documents show. Immigrants who qualify but fail to register could be fined up to $5,000 and sentenced to up to six months in prison.

The move to criminalize being in the U.S. illegally would build on the Trump administration’s efforts to toughen immigration laws. Previously, immigrants in the country illegally were committing a civil offense and could be detained and deported, but weren’t considered to have committed a crime.

“Aliens in this country illegally face a choice,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a memo describing the new policy. “They can return home and follow the legal process to come to the United States or they can deal with the consequences of continuing to violate our laws.”

President Trump wants to increase the pace of deportations.

Acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello has been removed from his position amid reports President Trump is unhappy with the pace of deportations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this month it was reported that President Trump and border czar Tom Homan were reportedly unhappy with the current number of deportations.

According to a report by NBC, Trump and Homan were disappointed with the pace of deportations so far and demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramp up their operations.

Caleb Vitello was reassigned to oversee all field and enforcement operations.

Earlier this month President Trump reassigned two senior ICE officials over the slow pace of deportations.

Reuters reported that the Trump Administration has deported nearly 40,000 illegal aliens since Inauguration Day.

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Kristi Noem Revokes Protected Status for 500,000 Haitians, Opens Them Up for Deportation

The Trump administration is moving to end deportation protections for about 520,000 Haitians.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security gave notice that temporary protected status would be ending for Haitians, according to The Hill.

The administration took similar action against Venezuelans who have used TPS to remain in the United States.

“Biden and Mayorkas attempted to tie the hands of the Trump administration by extending Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status by 18 months — far longer than justified or necessary,” a DHS representative said in a news release, referring to former President Joe Biden and former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited by illegal aliens for decades. President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary,” the representative said, referring to current DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who issued the order.

Some Haitians have been protected from deportation since 2010, when the Obama administration first authorized it for Haitians after a major earthquake there, according to The New York Times.

As noted by Politico, once Haitians in the U.S. under TPS lose their protected status, they could be eligible for deportation.

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DHS Manager Faces Termination After Undercover OMG Video Captures Him Admitting Department Will Defy Noem

In a stunning development at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Platform Services Manager Brandon Wright faces imminent termination after being caught on undercover video vowing to obstruct incoming Secretary Kristi Noem’s border policies and launching personal attacks against the nominee.

Wright, speaking candidly to an O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) journalist in footage that has now sparked internal investigations, expressed open contempt for Noem and outlined detailed plans to circumvent her upcoming directives. 

“The secretaries can set the priorities for the department, but they can’t actually tell us what to do,” Wright declared in the recorded conversation. 

“We don’t agree with those priorities.”

The controversial footage captures Wright describing sophisticated tactics to dilute policy directives as they move down the chain of command, potentially undermining the department’s effectiveness in implementing new border security measures. 

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FBI-DHS Warns Public of ‘Copycat Attacks’ Following ISIS-Inspired Vehicle Attack in New Orleans

In the wake of the tragic New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, where 14 individuals lost their lives and dozens were injured, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued a joint warning about the possibility of “copycat or retaliatory attacks.”

The assailant, identified as 42-year-old Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, a popular destination for revelers.

Jabbar, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), was subsequently killed in a shootout with police.

Authorities are particularly concerned about the potential for similar vehicle-ramming attacks.

The FBI and DHS have noted that such attacks can be carried out with minimal resources, making them appealing to lone actors inspired by extremist ideologies.

The Public Service Announcement (PSA) reads:

Summary

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are issuing this Public Service Announcement to highlight a potential public safety threat from violent extremists in response to the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, Louisiana.

As with any potential threats to the United States, we will coordinate with our state and local law enforcement partners to ensure they have the resources and information necessary to keep our communities safe.

ThreatThe FBI and DHS are concerned about possible copycat or retaliatory attacks due to the persistent appeal of vehicle ramming as a tactic for aspiring violent extremist attackers.Previous attackers inspired by foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) who have conducted vehicle attacks in the United States and abroad have used rented, stolen, and personally owned vehicles, which are easy to acquire.Some have used additional weapons, such as firearms and knives, to attack individuals after the vehicle has stopped. Additionally, attackers may attempt to conceal and pre-position improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to supplement a vehicle attack.Targets have included pedestrians, law enforcement or military members, and crowded public venues, including festivals and commercial centers, which generally are accessible from roadways.

We ask that the public remain vigilant regarding possible copycat or retaliatory attacks and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.

The warning comes just a week ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration.

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Mayorkas Grants Amnesty to Almost a Million Migrants

Nearly a million migrants in the US have been granted temporary amnesty by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

An 18-month expansion of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) amnesty was announced by Mayorkas this week.

The amnesty will cover 234,000 Salvadorean migrants who were first granted the status after 2001’s devastating earthquake in their home country.

It will also cover 600,000 economic migrants from Venezuela, and migrants from Ukraine and Sudan.

Mayorkas has massively expanded TPS amnesty during his tenure as head of the DHS.

In his final weeks, he has also expanded opportunities to allow foreign graduates to obtain white-collar jobs in the US, and to obtain green cards and citizenship.

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Homeland Security Agents Charged With Selling Illegal Drugs Seized As Evidence

A second Homeland Security agent has been charged with selling illegal drugs, taken from seized evidence, for hundreds of thousands of dollars through a confidential informant.

Nicholas Kindle, a special agent in Utah tasked with investigating illegal narcotics trafficking, was arrested three weeks after his alleged co-conspirator, special agent David Cole. Both men face felony drug distribution conspiracy charges. Kindle faces an additional charge of conspiracy to convert U.S. government property for profit.

Kindle was formally charged in an information document filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which does not require grand jury approval to initiate criminal proceedings. Court records indicate that he has not yet been assigned an attorney.

A magistrate judge on Jan. 3 set Kindle’s initial court appearance for Jan. 21 in Salt Lake City. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

Cole was indicted by a grand jury on Dec. 18 and has pleaded not guilty to his drug distribution conspiracy charge. He is due to stand trial the week of Feb. 24 and faces a maximum of 20 years if convicted.

His attorney, Alexander Ramos, previously said that he was still trying to gather information about the case.

The pair’s Homeland Security credentials have been suspended following the indictments but they have not been terminated, according to court documents.

Synthetic bath salts, also known as Alpha-PHP, are controlled substances with effects comparable to methamphetamine and cocaine. Abuse of the drug can result in adverse effects, including vomiting, paranoia, hypertension, seizures, or even death, according to U.S. authorities.

Federal prosecutors stated that Cole and Kindle began acquiring the drugs from HSI evidence in 2021 and sold them to a confidential informant from 2022 to 2024.

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The Spies Who Hate Us

Brownstone Institute has been tracking a little-known federal agency for years. It is part of the Department of Homeland Security created after 9-11. It is called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA. It was created in 2018 out of a 2017 executive order that seemed to make sense. It was a mandate to secure American digital infrastructure against foreign attack and infiltration. 

And yet during the Covid year, it assumed three huge jobs. It was the agency responsible for dividing the workforce between essential and nonessential. It led the way on censorship efforts. And it handled election security for 2020 and 2022, which, if you understand the implications of that, should make you spit out your coffee upon learning. 

More than any other agency, it became the operationally relevant government during this period. It was the agency that worked through third parties and packet-switching networking to take down your Facebook group. It worked through all kinds of intermediaries to keep a lid on Twitter. It managed LinkedIn, Instagram, and most of the other mainstream platforms in a way that made you feel like your opinions were too crazy to see the light of day. 

The most astonishing court document just came out. It was unearthed in the course of litigation undertaken by America First Legal. It has no redaction. It is a reverse chronicle of most of what they did from February 2020 until last year. It is 500 pages long. The version available now takes an age to download, so we shrunk it and put it on fast view so you can see the entire thing. 

What you discover is this. Everything that the intelligence agencies did not like during this period – doubting lockdowns, dismissing masking, questioning the vaccine, and so on – was targeted through a variety of cutouts among NGOs, universities, and private-sector fact-checkers. It was all labeled as Russian and Chinese propaganda so as to fit in with CISA’s mandate. Then it was throttled and taken down. It managed remarkable feats such as getting WhatsApp to stop allowing bulk sharing. 

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