The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using polygraph tests to identify employees who are leaking details of upcoming immigration raids to the media.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has ordered that every polygraph exam done by the department must feature questions about unapproved communication with nonprofit groups and the media.
“The Department of Homeland Security is a national security agency,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“We can, should, and will polygraph personnel.”
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a branch of the DHS, has been using polygraph tests on new personnel.
Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, and Secretary Noem have both blasted leakers for putting government personnel in danger.
“Their job is dangerous enough. So we are going to address this very seriously,” Homan told reporters in early February.
Secretary Noem posted a stern video message on X in which she said two leakers had already been identified and would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for “putting law-enforcement lives in jeopardy.”
“We’re going to continue doing all that we can to keep America safe,” she added.
The caption to the video states that individuals found leaking information could “face up to 10 years in federal prison.”
A number of immigration raids have been hampered by advance warning of their location and targets.
Earlier this week, Vanity Fair reporter Pablo Manriquez tweeted a warning about impending raids in Virginia.
“ICE RAIDS are planned for Monday & Tuesday in Northern Virginia, per multiple sources who tell us ICE has obtained between 75 and 100 judicial warrants.”
“NOTE: Judicial warrants mean ICE can go into your homes, so plan accordingly.”
“NOTE: Remember that state police have been deputized to help ICE, so highways, etc, are unsafe.”
Despite the leak, which according to Manriquez came from official sources, the raids went ahead as planned.
It’s unclear at this stage whether the two leakers were responsible for the information given to Manriquez, or whether their potential involvement was identified using polygraph testing.