The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using polygraph tests to figure out who could be leaking information to news outlets, with some agency officials contending the disclosed information has hampered immigration enforcement efforts, multiple outlets reported.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ordered in an internal directive, first reported by Bloomberg Government last month, that every polygraph exam done by the department has to feature questions about unapproved communication with nonprofit groups and media outlets.
“The Department of Homeland Security is a national security agency,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement to The Hill’s partner, NewsNation. “We can, should, and will polygraph personnel.”
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the DHS, has previously utilized the so-called “lie detector” tests on new hires at the agency.
Both Noem and President Trump’s Border czar, Tom Homan, have pinned the blame for immigration enforcement raids being revealed ahead of time and the substandard U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) numbers of arrests on internal leakers.
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