In the past month, several deportation raids have been compromised by unidentified federal officials who have leaked information about the raids to the public. Secretary Kristi Noem of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated Monday that the leakers have been identified and will be dismissed. I’ve found some leakers. “We are still receiving more,” Noem said in an interview. She went on, “They will be fired.” There will be consequences.
“They are endangering the lives of law enforcement when they leak information to the media in an attempt to blow one up,” the DHS secretary warned the public. She clarified that she and her colleagues have been investigating and questioning anyone who may have had access to the leaked information in an effort to identify the “leakers.” Additionally, they have employed “every tactic that we have” and “every tool,” including conducting polygraph examinations and reviewing emails and other electronic correspondence.
Noem remarked, “It’s amazing how these bureaucrats who wish to stop the efforts we’re making to ensure American safety will kill each other if it’s just for their own protection.” She concluded by saying, “Don’t worry, I’m doing everything I can to find these leakers and get rid of them so that we can do our work and our law enforcement officers and agents can do it safely.”
As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began preparing for deportation operations the day after President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, information about planned raids was leaked to the public last month. An ICE operation in Chicago had to be postponed after the raid was reported in The Wall Street Journal. The following week, former ICE chief and border czar Tom Homan personally oversaw deportation operations in Chicago.
Another ICE raid in Aurora, Colorado, just outside of Denver, targeted at least 100 members of the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA). Only one TDA member was eventually arrested, though, and the gang was explicitly notified of the raid. Additionally, press reports threatened an ICE operation in Los Angeles, the birthplace of the notoriously dangerous Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. Homan and Noem both speculated at the time that it could be the result of dishonest FBI agents. Noem declared, “The FBI is so corrupt.” We will collaborate with all pertinent agencies to stop leaks and prosecute these dishonest deep state agents to the greatest degree of the law. Furthermore, because “some of the information we’re receiving tends to lead towards the FBI,” Homan admitted that the FBI was the source of the leak.
Despite Noem’s vow on Monday to terminate individuals responsible for the disclosures, Homan and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi have already said that criminal prosecutions might be required. According to Homan’s report after the disclosures, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has “opened up a criminal investigation, and they have promised that not only will this person lose their job and their pension, they will go to jail.” Bondi promised to bring charges against anyone responsible, saying, “If you leaked it, we will find out who you are and we will come after you.”
In an interview with The Washington Stand, Lora Ries, Director of the Border Security and Immigration Centre at the Heritage Foundation, said that “those who leaked details of ICE raids should be prosecuted.” In addition to violating 18 U.S.C. sections 2 and 1505, she explained, “they are obstructing a federal proceeding, which is a violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1512(c)(2) and (k), and they are obstructing justice.” “Because they haven’t been punished in years, leakers and doxers view their obstruction as low risk, high reward,” Ries continued. We must set some highly visible examples in order to curb the behaviour. Firing them is not enough because they will soon be rehired by leftist organisations.
They should be “publicly arrested, prosecuted, fired, have their security clearance revoked, have any federal retirement revoked, and be barred from future government employment, grants, and contracts,” Ries concluded.