Department of Homeland Security | Reason Archives (original) (raw)
Abolish the TSA
The agency has not made air travel safer but it has made it costlier and more time-consuming to fly.
Robby Soave | 11.14.2024 6:00 AM
Richard Staropoli: What's Wrong With the Secret Service?
An ex-Secret Service agent explains what he thinks left Donald Trump vulnerable to two close-call assassination attempts within two months.
Zach Weissmueller | 9.26.2024 1:00 PM
Courts Close the Loophole Letting the Feds Search Your Phone at the Border
Customs and Border Protection insists that it can search electronics without a warrant. A federal judge just said it can't.
Matthew Petti | 7.26.2024 5:09 PM
No, the Secret Service Is Not Underfunded
As lawmakers investigate what went wrong at the Pennsylvania Trump rally, they should resist calls to give the agency more money.
Joe Lancaster | 7.25.2024 4:02 PM
Federal Judge, ICE Agents Linked to Compromised Spyware Use
The surveillance company mSpy just suffered its third data breach in a decade, exposing government officials snooping for both official and unofficial reasons.
Matthew Petti | 7.2.2024 2:02 PM
Be Wary of the Department of Homeland Security's AI Ambitions
Americans shouldn’t count on the department to use the technology responsibly or in a limited way.
Fiona Harrigan | 6.27.2024 3:40 PM
Feds Worried About Anarchists Gluing the Locks to a Government Facility
A FOIA request reveals what the FBI and Homeland Security had to say about anarchist activities on May Day 2015.
Matthew Petti | 5.1.2024 8:00 AM
Impending Impeachment
Plus: a shaky bipartisan border deal, the looming Taylor Swift PSYOP, and the disappearance of the D.C. area's greatest landmark...
Christian Britschgi | 1.31.2024 9:30 AM
Mayorkas Pressed Over DHS Labeling Protesters 'Domestic Violent Extremists'
Rep. Cori Bush (D–Mo.) and multiple civil liberties organizations cited the "Cop City" project in Atlanta, in which dozens of protesters have been charged with domestic terrorism.
Joe Lancaster | 8.1.2023 11:50 AM
Foreign College Basketball Stars Are Missing Out on Endorsement Money Due to Visa Rules
College players on student visas face complex barriers when it comes to profiting off their names, images, and likenesses.
Fiona Harrigan | 4.3.2023 5:26 PM
TSA's Biometric Screening May Not Be Optional for Long
Surveillance tech that isn't banned often becomes mandatory eventually.
Bonnie Kristian | 3.31.2023 12:45 PM
The Government Is Turning Border Surveillance on Everyday Americans
As the government sets its sights on migrants crossing the border, native-born Americans have also come under its watchful eye.
Fiona Harrigan | 3.28.2023 11:15 AM
Federal Agencies Are Still Using Our Phones as Tracking Beacons
Our mobile devices constantly snitch on our whereabouts.
J.D. Tuccille | 3.24.2023 7:00 AM
Raising Fees Won't Fix the Visa Process
The problem is the immigration process itself, not a lack of funding.
Fiona Harrigan | 3.23.2023 6:00 AM
Department of Homeland Security
DHS Just Turned 20. It's Time To Abolish It.
Break it up into fewer, smaller agencies that are more accountable to pre-9/11 departments.
Nick Gillespie and Justin Zuckerman | 3.8.2023 10:34 AM
The Department of Homeland Security Turns 20. Its Legacy Is Disastrous.
Surveilling American citizens without due process, separating undocumented children from their parents, the TSA—the DHS has been a failure.
Joe Lancaster | 3.1.2023 8:00 AM
The Fight Over the Debt Ceiling Is Just Beginning
Legislators will increasingly argue over how to spend a diminishing discretionary budget while overall spending simultaneously explodes.
Veronique de Rugy | 2.9.2023 12:01 AM
Another Bogus 'Sex Trafficking Sting' Led by Homeland Security Agents
Plus: Everyone loves conspiracy theories, against national rent control, and more...
Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 1.24.2023 9:30 AM
Government Snoops in Maine Caught Spying on Peaceful Americans
Intelligence-gathering “fusion centers” repeatedly abuse civil liberties without making us safer.
J.D. Tuccille | 1.6.2023 7:00 AM
Twitter Files Reveal Politicians, Officials Evading the Constitution's Restrictions
People in power lean on private businesses to impose authoritarian policies forbidden to the government.
J.D. Tuccille | 1.2.2023 7:00 AM
TSA Gets $400 Million for Pay Raises in Omnibus Spending Bill
The bill also gives TSA employees the power to collectively bargain, which means more pay raises are likely in the future.
Eric Boehm | 12.21.2022 2:25 PM
Real ID Enforcement Has Been Pushed Back. Again.
The Real ID Act was passed in 2005. 17 years later, it's worth asking if it's finally time to scrap the law.
Emma Camp | 12.7.2022 10:15 AM
Livestream: Homeland Security's Backdoor Social Media Speech Regulation
Livestream with Nick Gillespie, Robby Soave, and Zach Weissmueller
Zach Weissmueller | 11.2.2022 4:56 PM
Department of Homeland Security
DHS' Crusade Against Misinformation Is Another Example of Anti-Terror Mission Creep
While the Department of Homeland Security pressured tech companies to censor their users' posts, it also branded election deniers as potential terrorists.
Joe Lancaster | 11.2.2022 11:45 AM
DHS Still Policing Disinformation Despite Dissolving Disinformation Governance Board
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI regularly report misinformation and disinformation to tech companies for potential removal.
Joe Lancaster | 10.31.2022 4:05 PM
This Election Day, Listen to the Betting Market Instead of Pundit Predictions
Over time, betting has been a better predictor than polls, pundits, statistical models, and everything else.
John Stossel | 10.26.2022 12:30 AM
Here's What the Media Get Wrong About Hurricanes
No, a big storm does not require big government.
John Stossel | 10.5.2022 12:30 AM
Border Officials Took This Woman's Cheese and Fined Her $1,000
Their case for the seizure is full of holes.
Fiona Harrigan | 9.12.2022 5:22 PM
ICE Set Up a Fake College, Robbing and Deporting Foreign Students. Civil Rights Groups Want Answers.
Hundreds of lives were upended by the University of Farmington, a fake university that took $6 million in tuition and fees from foreign students.
Fiona Harrigan | 8.12.2022 4:56 PM
Homeland Security Agrees That the Disinformation Board Was a Bad Idea
The feds now admit there was "no need" for such a thing.
Robby Soave | 7.19.2022 2:13 PM
Homeland Security Is Buying Its Way Around the Fourth Amendment
Plus: The Respect for Marriage Act, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and more...
Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 7.19.2022 9:48 AM
Biden Extends Temporary Status for Some Venezuelan Refugees, Offers No Protections for Recent Arrivals
While Temporary Protected Status will last through 2024, only Venezuelans who arrived before March 2021 will be eligible.
Eric Bazail-Eimil | 7.13.2022 5:45 PM
Biden Celebrates $90 Billion Bailout of Private Union Pension Plans
Plus: Don't cry for the failure of Homeland Security's disinformation board, states discover supply-side solutions to labor shortages, and more...
Eric Boehm | 7.7.2022 9:30 AM
America's Harsh Immigration Restrictions Mean Haitians Drown Trying To Get Here
Their deaths are the tragic, predictable consequence of shutting down safer migration paths.
Fiona Harrigan | 6.13.2022 1:45 PM
Over 45,000 Americans Have Applied To Sponsor Displaced Ukrainians
In just over a month, the Uniting for Ukraine private sponsorship program has attracted huge support.
Fiona Harrigan | 6.6.2022 4:35 PM
Nina Jankowicz's Faulty Record, Not Her Critics, Doomed the Disinformation Board
And The Washington Post's wildly one-sided account of Jankowicz's fall was an exercise in government PR.
Robby Soave | 5.18.2022 2:30 PM
This Woman Spent 19 Years in Jail for a Murder She Didn't Commit. Now ICE Is Trying To Deport Her.
Deportation proceedings are a second layer of prosecution for people who have either served their sentences or had their convictions overturned.
Fiona Harrigan | 5.17.2022 12:15 PM
Don't Trust Biden's Dystopian 'Disinformation Board'
A "disinformation" board sounds like something from a dystopian novel.
Steven Greenhut | 5.13.2022 8:00 AM
The Biden Administration Sees Free Speech As a Public Menace
The alarm aroused by the Disinformation Governance Board is understandable given the administration’s broader assault on messages it considers dangerous.
Jacob Sullum | 5.4.2022 12:01 AM
The DHS Will Be Disinformation Dolts
Plus: perpetual "scope creep" of the welfare state
Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Peter Suderman | 5.2.2022 4:24 PM
Homeland Security Chief Admits New Disinformation Board Already Did a Bad Job of Informing Public
Alejandro Mayorkas fails to inspire much confidence in the new group run by Nina Jankowicz.
Robby Soave | 5.2.2022 11:37 AM
Americans Can Now Sponsor Ukrainians for Temporary Refuge in the U.S.
Though the program has flaws, it’s an innovative way for private citizens to get directly involved in resettlement efforts for fleeing Ukrainians.
Fiona Harrigan | 4.26.2022 3:45 PM
The Department of Homeland Security Is Broken and Dangerous
The department suffers “a dangerous combination of broad authorities, weak safeguards, and insufficient oversight.”
J.D. Tuccille | 4.25.2022 7:00 AM
Why Does Border Patrol Need the Ability To Delete Messages?
A lawsuit attempts to find out how federal agents are implementing Wickr, a communications service that has an auto-erase function.
Scott Shackford | 4.4.2022 2:15 PM
Biden Administration To Protect Afghans in the U.S. From Deportation
Those already in the U.S. as of March 15 may also work legally for the next 18 months.
Fiona Harrigan | 3.16.2022 10:45 AM
Biden Administration To Protect Ukrainians in the U.S. From Deportation
But more still needs to be done to address the refugee crisis mounting in Eastern Europe.
Fiona Harrigan | 3.4.2022 2:00 PM
If You Want To Help Ukrainians, Welcome Them to the U.S.
Now is the time for immigration relief, not military involvement on Ukraine’s behalf.
Fiona Harrigan | 2.22.2022 4:25 PM
Court Trashes Trump-Era Rules That Prevented Asylum Seekers From Working Legally
But bureaucratic backlogs mean it's still taking far too long for them to get to work.
Fiona Harrigan | 2.15.2022 3:41 PM