Homeland Security

Would Converting Some DHS Political Positions to Career Ones Help Employee Morale?

Good government group recommends this as one way to address long-term challenges with dissatisfaction among employees.

  • Courtney Bublé

Lawmakers Blast DHS for Missing Deadline for Bipartisan Subpoena of Immigration Documents 

The House Homeland Security Committee requested information on the administration's policies related to handling of children and families for the second time.

  • Courtney Bublé

House Passes Bill to Boost Civil Rights at Homeland Security

Legislation follows surge of whistleblowers saying civil rights office has been neutered under Trump.

  • Eric Katz

Court Affirms Agencies Don't Have to Negotiate Over Performance Appraisals

Management can shift the number of appraisal levels without bargaining with unions, court says.

  • Eric Katz

Agencies Are Cracking Down on Employees' Opioid Use, Both Legal and Illegal

At least one agency is testing the fitness of employees with legal opioid prescriptions.

  • Eric Katz

Top Democrats Call for Emergency Review of DHS Appointments

This is the latest in a series of legal quandaries surrounding the department’s line of succession.

  • Courtney Bublé

Bernie Sanders Announces Plans to Break Up Homeland Security Dept. and Expand VA

DHS is an aimless "bureaucratic behemoth," Sanders says, while VA is on a path toward privatization.

  • Eric Katz

Top Senators Make Bipartisan Plea for Trump to Fill Homeland Security Vacancies

Lawmakers say a lack of leadership is making it harder for the department to fulfill its mission.

  • Eric Katz

Border Agents Can Now Get Classified Intelligence Information. Experts Call That Dangerous.

The Trump administration is creating a center that will give immigration agents access to information from U.S. intelligence agencies. Migrants and others denied entry will be unable to see the evidence against them because it is classified.

  • Melissa del Bosque, ProPublica

West Texas Detention Facility Enacting Water Conservation Measures after Depletion of Local Water Tanks

The Sierra Blanca facility, which houses ICE detainees, shuts down its water supply at 11 p.m. daily to allow its on-site water tanks to replenish overnight.

  • Julián Aguilar, The Texas Tribune

With Employees Facing Attacks and Murder Attempts, Land Agencies Say They’re Ill-Equipped to Enhance Security

Safety at land management agencies is hampered by law enforcement staffing decreases and border deployments, auditors find.

  • Eric Katz

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
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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.

  • Julián 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