Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is reportedly performing polygraph tests on agency employees to determine whether staff is leaking information to the media about immigration enforcement operations.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have both repeatedly blamed lower-than-expected Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests on alleged leaks to the press that have revealed which cities federal law enforcement officials were targeting.
On Friday, Noem said DHS has “identified two leakers of information” within the agency “who have been telling individuals about our operations and putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy.”
“We plan to prosecute these two individuals and hold them accountable for what they’ve done,” she said in a video posted to X.
In a memo to DHS employees last week and reported by Bloomberg Government, Noem allegedly instructed all polygraph tests to include questions about “unauthorized communications with media and nonprofit organizations,” the outlet said.
Noem cited the “deleterious effects” of leaks on immigration enforcement, according to the memo, which said responses could be used to determine whether agency personnel can continue to have access to classified information or hold a sensitive position.
“Yes have been saying this for weeks,” assistant DHS secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in response to reporting on Saturday.
The Independent has requested comment from Homeland Security.
Homeland Security previously estimated there were roughly 11 million people without legal status in the United States in 2022. Trump and White House officials have repeatedly said they intend to remove anyone living in the country without legal permission, and that anyone in the country without legal status is a “criminal,” but high-profile sweeps and aggressive enforcement actions — including using the full force of federal law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice and State Department — have yielded mixed results and faced major legal and logistical roadblocks.
ICE detention centers are already at capacity, Congress has not yet approved a massive surge in funding for immigration enforcement, and federal judges have blocked the Trump administration from targeting churches.
Roughly 8,450 people were caught at the U.S.-Mexico border within Trump’s first full month in office, according to CBS News, marking the lowest level of crossings in more than two decades. But the plunge also reflects what civil rights groups are calling an illegal and unconstitutional threat to legal immigration pathways, including ending asylum claims, eliminating a government app to process asylum appointments, and reinstating the so-called Remain in Mexico program, among other actions.
The administration has also threatened funding for refugee resettlement while fast-tracking deportations and opening the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to detain immigrants marked for deportation.
Last month, Homan, who is not a prosecutor, said alleged leakers could face prosecution.
“You’re putting officers’ lives at risk,” he told Fox News. “It’s only a matter of time until we walk into a place and there’s a bad guy who doesn’t care, he’s going to be sitting in wait for the officers to show up and ambush him. This is not a game.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is suing New York and Illinois over so-called “sanctuary” policies, and Homan has suggested the Justice Department could also prosecute organizations — and lawmakers, like Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — for offering “know your rights” seminars to support communities targeted by federal immigration enforcement actions.
