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Tech News
Rep. Delia Ramirez plans to introduce the Reimagining Safety Act, which would terminate the border surveillance tower program and dismantle the Department of Homeland Security, redistributing functions like CISA, FEMA, TSA and customs to other federal agencies. The bill, developed with groups Just Futures Law and Mijente, would replace DHS with a new Department of Community Safety, though the full text has not yet been released.
The FBI has charged Terry "Jiajia" Liu, a Customs and Border Protection IT supervisor in Calais, Maine, with stealing processors, memory, and hard drives from at least 46 Homeland Security computers across three border facilities. Liu allegedly replaced the components with cheaper, often outdated parts and traded the originals to Newegg's trade-in program for store credit, causing an estimated $105,800 in damage.
Court filings reveal Homeland Security Investigations agents subpoenaed REI in March, seeking purchase records for anyone in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area who bought a particular dark green beanie since 2024. The request is one of 92 subpoenas issued as part of a federal lawsuit against 39 people, including protesters and journalists, connected to a demonstration at an ICE-linked church. Other subpoenas reportedly sought data from social media firms, airlines, telecom companies, and a car rental agency, with one airline allegedly asked to flag a defendant's future travel.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has published documents outlining plans to award a contract worth up to $5 million for building a national database of voter registration and voting history records. The contract, managed by Homeland Security Investigations, would require the winning company to pull publicly available voter files from all 50 states, including data on which federal elections people voted in. ICE says the contractor won't initially be asked to collect party affiliation data, but that could change if a contracting officer directs it in writing.
A Department of Homeland Security procurement notice reveals plans to buy Boston Dynamics' Spot quadruped robots and accessories for between $1 million and $2 million. The robots would be used by ICE for inspection, situational awareness, and hazard assessment in risky or hard-to-access environments before officers enter. A DHS official confirmed to NBC News that the robots would not be used for apprehending people or making arrests.
Emails obtained through public records requests show that state's attorneys in roughly one-sixth of Illinois counties shared personal details about immigrants facing local charges with federal immigration agents. One case involved Marion County prosecutor John Christeson sending a Homeland Security Investigations agent the birth date, address and court schedule of Rolando Perez Samayoa, a man facing a DUI charge, who was arrested by federal agents weeks later along with his teenage son.
Federal contractors are moving forward with border wall and road construction across private ranchland in West Texas, threatening thousands of years' worth of Native American artifacts and rock art. While public pressure halted a planned steel bollard wall inside Big Bend National Park, DHS and Customs and Border Protection still intend to build barriers and roads through mountains and canyons on private land nearby. Ranchers like Jeff Fort, whose property hosts ongoing excavations led by archaeologist Bryon Schroeder, worry the construction will split their land and destroy sites that haven't even been fully studied yet.
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed a rule that would permanently establish a $103,265 fee on certain new H-1B visas, replacing the temporary fee Trump imposed last year that is set to expire in September. Previously such visas cost between $2,000 and $5,000, and the new fee would not apply to renewals or to foreign students already in the U.S. transitioning to H-1B status. The proposal comes even as courts are still weighing legal challenges, including a June ruling that found the original fee illegal.