By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-09 21:16:16 | Updated at 2025-03-10 03:02:58
6 hours ago
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday announced new leadership at the agency tasked with immigration enforcement as she also pledged to step up lie detector tests on employees to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media.
“The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive and I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we’re following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe and that we’re making sure we’re following through on what President Trump has promised,” Noem told CBS’ Face the Nation television programme.
While these polygraph exams are typically not admissible in court proceedings, they are frequently used by federal policing agencies and for national security clearances.
“The Department of Homeland Security is a national security agency,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “We can, should, and will polygraph personnel.”
White House officials have previously expressed frustration with the pace of deportations, blaming it in part on recent leaks revealing cities where authorities planned to conduct operations.
Noem’s announcement of two new leadership appointments within the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes less than two months into the Trump administration and demonstrates the importance that the administration places on carrying out the president’s deportation agenda.
