Homeland Security

Despite Outrage, Moving Money from FEMA to ICE Is Unlikely to Affect Hurricane Response

The transfer could spur Congress to cut off the Homeland Security secretary's spending flexibility, however, which could have long-term impact.

  • Eric Katz

TSA Agents to Warn Travelers On Real ID Deadline

Air passengers without Real IDs will hear from TSA agents at the check-in podium.

  • Elaine S. Povich

When Transgender Travelers Walk Into Scanners, Invasive Searches Sometimes Wait on the Other Side

Transgender and gender nonconforming people say they have been pressured to expose their genitals during TSA searches at airports. The encounters stem from shortcomings in the agency’s technology and insufficient training of its staff.

  • Brenda Medina and Lucas Waldron, ProPublica

North Carolina Sheriffs Win a Round Against ICE

Republican lawmakers had sought to make counties help enforce immigration law.

  • David A. Graham

'Dirtbag,' 'Savages,' 'Subhuman': A Border Agent’s Hateful Career and the Crime That Finally Ended It

Border Patrol agent Matthew Bowen had been investigated for years before he used his 4,000-pound truck to assault a fleeing migrant.

  • A.C. Thompson, ProPublica

Analysis: Trump’s DHS Aims to Scare Immigrants Away From Public Benefits

The Trump administration announced changes to the “public charge” rule that will prevent immigrants who access government services from staying in the U.S.

  • Sarah Holder, CityLab

Viewpoint: When Children at the Border Got Compassion

The United States has a moral responsibility for unaccompanied children—and took it seriously, at least in 2014.

  • Eric Fanning, The Atlantic

Analysis: Universal Background Checks Really Do Cut Gun Deaths

"...The truth is that we have a pretty good grasp at what's going on. People who shouldn't have access to guns are getting access."

  • Jessica Colarossi, Futurity

Border Patrol in El Paso Reopens Checkpoints

Some of the checkpoints were temporarily closed in March after Border Patrol said it needed to pull agents from those posts to help process, detain and care for the surge of undocumented immigrants crossing into the country.

  • Juliån Aguilar, The Texas Tribune

Analysis: Can Anyone Stop Trump’s Border Wall?

The Supreme Court temporarily allowed the administration to begin construction. That doesn’t mean victory for the president is certain.

  • Dror Ladin, The Atlantic

How ICE Enforcement Has Changed Under The Trump Administration

Data released under FOIA shows that ICE is encountering more U.S. citizens and more women.

  • Emily Ryo, The Conversation

Homeland Security Has a Problem Hiring and Keeping Women

The department is failing to address known barriers to a number of ethnic and racial groups, a watchdog report finds.

  • Eric Katz

Asylum Seekers That Followed Trump Rule Now Don’t Qualify Because of New Trump Rule

Migrants hoping for U.S. protection have been waiting in Mexico for months, as the U.S. allowed fewer than ever to enter. Then it changed the rules entirely.

  • Dara Lind, ProPublica
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A Border Patrol Agent Reveals What It’s Really Like to Guard Migrant Children

With the agency under fire for holding children in deplorable conditions and over racist and misogynistic Facebook posts, one agent speaks about what it’s like to do his job. “Somewhere down the line people just accepted what’s going on as normal.”

  • Ginger Thompson, ProPublica

At Least 30 Migrant Children Have Been Separated From Their Parents for More Than a Year

A report from the House Oversight Committee provides new details on the calamity at the U.S.-Mexico border.

  • Ashley Fetters, The Atlantic

Border Patrol Agents Are Passing Around A Commemorative Coin Mocking Care for Migrant Kids

The coin declares “KEEP THE CARAVANS COMING” under an image of a parade of migrants crossing the border.

  • Dara Lind, ProPublica

Border Patrol Condemns Secret Facebook Group, but Reveals Few Specifics

The agency won’t say how many employees have been disciplined or warned in the ongoing scandal over offensive social media posts.

  • A.C. Thompson, ProPublica

ICE and the Ever-Widening Surveillance Dragnet

ICE agents have used facial-recognition technology on state driver’s-license photos, turning a public database into a de facto criminal database.

  • Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic

Immigration Officials Use Secretive Gang Databases to Deny Migrant Asylum Claims

Legal experts and human rights advocates say they were not told about the databases and question their reliability.

  • Melissa del Bosque, ProPublica

NSA Still Grappling With Controls to Guard Against Surveillance Abuse

Watchdog also finds gaps in security of internal data systems.  

  • Charles S. Clark

Inside the Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Where Agents Joke About Migrant Deaths and Post Sexist Memes

The three-year-old group, which has roughly 9,500 members, shared derogatory comments about Latina lawmakers who plan to visit a controversial Texas detention facility on Monday, calling them “scum buckets” and “hoes.”

  • A.C. Thompson, ProPublica