Donald Trump’s administration has made it clear that he will not let anything stand, not even his own officials. To that end, the National Security Department has begun to carry out polygraph tests to its employees to determine who could be filtering information about migratory raids, after several leaks frustrated recent operations in states such as California or Colorado. Both Noem and the border tsar, Tom Homan, have blamed the figures for arresting of the customs immigration and control service (ICE), lower than those planned already required by the president, to these blows.
“We have identified two information filters here in the Department of National Security who have been informing individuals about our operations and endangering the life of the forces of the order. We have planned to process these two individuals and make them account for what they have done, ”Noem announced in a video posted on X on Friday. It is not clear if the two employees they were referring to had been identified through a test with lies detectors, nor how many employees have been subjected to these exams or could be.
In an interview with the CBS chain, issued on Sunday, Noem reported that these two officials “could face up to 10 years in federal prison” for leaks. “The authorities that I have under the National Security Department are broad and extensive, and plan to use each of them to make sure we are fulfilling the law, that we are following the procedures established to keep the people safe, and that we are ensuring that we are fulfilling what President Trump has promised, that he will make the United States safe again,” he added.
The use of polygraphs in the National Security Department is not new. Various government agencies, including those responsible for the application of immigration laws, such as customs and border protection service (CBP) or ICE, use them during hiring processes. However, now these machines are also being used to ask specific questions about the filtration of classified documents or sensitive police information about ICE operations. According to CBS, these tests are carried out at least three weeks.
Bloomberg of the plans of the National Security Department to carry out these tests on February 18. According to his report, Noem issued an internal directive in mid -February so that all the polygraphs administered by the Department of National Security include a question about unauthorized communications with media and non -profit organizations.
At the beginning of last month, an internal document of the filtered government warned that “large -scale” migratory operations were being planned in Los Angeles. The filtration to the media caused mobilizations against ICE, led by community activists who warn immigrants from the presence of immigration officials in their areas and. And in January there was another filtration on ICE operations in Colorado. As a result, they were postponed and took place in early February in the cities of Denver and Aurora.
According to the Trump Administration, this type of leak is making it difficult to immigrants that the authorities are carrying out throughout the country and, therefore, the massive deportations that the president promised during his campaign. The Republican government, well below the monthly average of 57,000 expulsions and returns in the last full year of the presidency of Joe Biden.
New ICE address
Those figures and last month caused the dismissal of the acting director of the ICE. Noem announced this Sunday that Todd Lyons, former assistant director of field operations of the application arm of the agency’s law, will now occupy the position of acting director of the ICE. Lyons replaces Caleb Vitello, who was reallocated a month after his entry into functions after the complaints of White House officials. His degradation occurred after two other high immigration officials were reallocated in early February.
In addition to the appointment of Lyons, Noem announced that Madison Sheahan, secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fishing of Louisiana and former NOEM assistant when she was Governor of Dakota del Sur, has been appointed deputy director of the ICE. According to the Secretary of National Security, these two appointments will return to the agency “a culture of accountability” of which it lacked under the Biden administration.
“Todd Lyons and Madison Sheahan are battle horses, strong executors and responsible leaders who will lead the men and women of ICE to fulfill the mandate of the US people to pursue, arrest and deport illegal foreigners,” said Noem.
