The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will subject members of its staff to a polygraph test. This was decided by the agency’s new secretary, Kristi Noem, who is intent on using polygraphs to try to identify who leaked information regarding ICE’s anti-immigrant raids.
Noem issued an internal directive last week stating that DHS tests will have to include a question about unauthorized communications with news organizations and nonprofit organizations.
The decision comes after leaks last week hampered at least two operations by ICE agents, in Aurora, Colorado, and Los Angeles. Afterward, border czar Tom Homan said it was someone on the inside who had leaked the information regarding the anti-immigrant raids.
In Colorado, the tip allegedly allowed Venezuelan gang members Tren de Aragua to escape capture as federal agents stumbled upon mostly empty apartments and buildings during the operations.
Noem, for her part, accused the FBI of leaking information about the Los Angeles raid. ICE sources had previously told Fox News, however, that they did not know where the DHS secretary got the information or what she based her accusation on.
Currently, DHS uses polygraph exams during the hiring process of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and agents to determine “suitability for employment” and “in support of internal and counterintelligence investigations.”
“The federal government uses the polygraph exam to understand an applicants’ past behavior, personal connections, and personal integrity”, reports the agency’s web page, “Almost every Border Patrol Agent, Customs and Border Protection Officer, and Air and Marine Operations Agent who has joined CBP has taken, and passed, a Polygraph Exam”.
Now, with the Trump administration pushing ahead with its mass deportation plan, it is quite likely that truth testing will become an increasingly popular tool within federal agencies.
