Hours-long polygraph tests and forced transfers: How the Department of Homeland Security created an atmosphere of fear
Federal employees tasked with implementing the Trump administration's mass deportation program faced a widespread intimidation campaign within the US Department of Homeland Security. This continued both in the final months of Kristi Noem's tenure and after she was replaced by a new director, an investigation concluded. The Guardian.
Over the past four months, the publication's journalists spoke with more than three dozen current and former agency employees. They described an atmosphere of fear they said was fostered by leaders loyal to Trump. These individuals suspended or fired career officials if they expressed doubts about the legality of their actions, threatening dismissal or even arrest to suppress dissent. Some interviewees said they were forced to undergo polygraph tests administered by the military.
Over the past year and a half, entire departments have been disbanded, and internal control structures have been stripped of staff and authority. The most significant changes affected the departments responsible for refugee, asylum, humanitarian protection, and family preservation policy. According to sources, these practices continued after the appointment of the new department head, Markwayne Mullin.
On the subject: The Department of Homeland Security plans to target immigration lawyers handling asylum cases.
"I wanted to work with refugees," said Harun Ahmed, former deputy director of the refugee legal division at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. "I wanted to help. And I believe in public service."
Ahmed worked in federal agencies for almost 17 years, focusing on the legal defense of refugees and asylum seekers. After Trump returned to power in 2025, he said, pressure began to be exerted on career employees.
"We were required to approve initiatives even if we considered them immoral, illegal, or contrary to historical practice," Ahmed noted. "Our experience was of no interest to anyone. They only needed our formal consent."
Under Noem, the agency carried out over 675 deportations and expanded the immigration detention system to record levels. The refugee resettlement program was almost completely halted, while the admission of white South African citizens was accelerated. The practice of family separation was resumed, the transfer of deportees to third countries was expanded, some migrants were sent to the Cecot mega-prison in El Salvador, and the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base was used as a detention center. Incidentally, a federal judge ruled this an "unacceptable punitive measure."
Many career employees objected to these decisions, particularly the expansion of overseas deployments and the use of force, Ahmed said.
"When it came to family separations, Guantanamo, and the rapid escalation of operations, employees expressed their dissent," he said. "But those who objected were suspended, blacklisted, or removed from projects."
Over time, Ahmed says, he realized he couldn't continue working without compromising his principles. When the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, offered federal employees, including those at the Department of Homeland Security, severance packages, he ultimately accepted.
“I did it reluctantly,” he admitted, “because I saw no other way out.”
Polygraph tests
Several current and former department employees told the Guardian they had experienced polygraph tests. They were used not as a standard security measure, but as a means of pressure. The publication spoke with several people who underwent these tests independently, and their accounts were consistent in key details.
The use of polygraphs in federal agencies has been reported before, and the department has stated that it does not intend to apologize for its efforts to uncover information leaks. However, the identities of those conducting the tests have not previously been disclosed. According to sources, the employees administering the tests posed as U.S. Air Force personnel recruited to interrogate civilian employees of another federal agency.
The official explanation for the investigations was unspecified doubts about the employees' security clearances for classified information. None of the former officials saw the charges brought against them or were given the opportunity to respond before being summoned for the investigation. They all believe the charges were fabricated and used to create an atmosphere of fear.
Some recall that before the start of the investigation, they were read their rights as suspects in a criminal case.
"They read me my rights," one former employee said. "That's only done in criminal investigations. It looked like they were going to arrest me."
Participation in the audit was officially considered voluntary, but employees said management made it clear that refusal would result in the loss of security clearance and dismissal.
At least three former employees described the same procedure: they were led into small, windowless rooms and hooked up to sensors—a heart rate monitor, sensors under their feet and in their chairs, a blood pressure cuff, and breathing sensors. They were told to stare at a blank wall while an inspector sat behind them. A video recording was played in the corner, and one of the rooms had a one-way mirror.
The staff were warned not to alter their breathing patterns and were told that any deviation could affect the results. One participant recalled that the cuff remained inflated for a long time, causing her arm to turn red. Another staff member reported feeling suffocated because he was forbidden to take deep breaths.
Some inspections lasted up to six hours, and several employees were called back.
"They push you to spill everything, telling you that if you have nothing to hide, you'll pass the test," one former employee emphasized. "They even ask about trivial details from your personal life, dating back years, and then make you feel like an extremely immoral person."
Forced transfers
For many, the pressure didn't end there.
Employees were sent to departments in other regions of the country, often to positions for which they had no experience, and to departments with completely different areas of activity.
According to current and former officials, the department's complex structure, which encompassed more than 20 agencies with diverse responsibilities, allowed transfers to be used as an effective pressure tool. Employees were given only a few days to make decisions. Some resigned, others accepted compensation, and some stayed.
Several current employees admitted they stayed not because they supported the department's policies, but for personal reasons. One said he felt a responsibility to his family: he provides health insurance, housing, and education for his children. One manager described this as a daily moral compromise.
According to Ron Rosenberg, a former senior official at Citizenship and Immigration Services, the practice of pressuring people through transfers was also used during Trump's first term.
Rosenberg, who served in the government for over 26 years, led a division in the Mid-Atlantic region, overseeing over 450 employees. He also participated in the 2021 evacuation of Afghans, helping resettle over 75 people in six months. For this work, he received one of the highest federal service awards under the Biden administration.
According to him, during Trump's first term, political appointees repeatedly tried to oust him through transfers. When that didn't work, they tried to move his position to another state, which would have forced his family to relocate. He threatened legal action, and the decision was overturned. He continued on the job for another six years.
However, Trump's second term, he said, has been fundamentally different.
"If the first one was bad, the second one is like setting fire to a can of jet fuel on the first day," he concluded.
According to him, in the first few weeks, mass transfers began, pronouns were removed from email signatures, and employees were required to remove signs indicating gender-neutral restrooms.
"Every day became a new topic of culture war. There were no restrictions, no filters. They acted with the utmost speed and brutality," Rosenberg stated.
"There's an irritability and vindictiveness in these people. It's reminiscent of the anti-communist paranoia of the McCarthy era," he added.
A former senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said Noem frequently clashed with career managers whom she couldn't fire. When that failed, the pressure shifted to their teams: employees with decades of experience were transferred, suspended, or fired.
In March 2026, Trump fired Noem amid bipartisan criticism following the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal immigration agents in Minnesota, as well as questions about a $200 million advertising campaign and contracting practices.
At the end of March, the Senate confirmed Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin to head the department. The vote was 54-45. At his confirmation hearing, he promised to provide more stable leadership.
"My goal is for us not to be the main news every day," he promised.
Former Citizenship and Immigration Services attorney Dorothea Ley, now vice president of policy at Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, believes this doesn't address the core problem:
"The desire to avoid media criticism for a strict immigration policy does not mean a willingness to abandon that policy itself."
Several officials noted that Mullin is less prone to personality conflicts than Noem, and that Customs and Border Protection leadership is trying to bring back some of the laid-off employees. However, current employees say nothing has fundamentally changed: Mullin doesn't have complete freedom of action, as immigration policy is determined by the White House. They point to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as a key figure.
"As long as Stephen Miller is in the White House, he's the one running the department," one staffer noted. "Mullin isn't making decisions."
Large-scale consequences for people
Sarah Pierce joined Citizenship and Immigration Services in January 2023 as a senior analyst. Previously, she worked on immigration policy in Congress.
Pierce worked on the most sensitive programs, dealing with refugees, asylum, temporary protection, and victim support. When DOGE offered severance pay, employees were given only a few days to decide whether to leave or stay and risk transfer, dismissal, or loss of benefits.
"People were crying at the group meetings," Pierce recalls. "They were sharing contact information for mental health services because everyone was worried about each other's mental health."
Her unit, which was later disbanded, developed policies for dealing with the most vulnerable categories of migrants—refugees, asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking, and domestic violence. These structures also provided protection to people like Wendy Hernandez Reyes.
In March, her three-year-old son, U.S. citizen Orlin Hernandez Reyes, was killed by his uncle, who had left him with him after his mother's deportation to Honduras in January. According to the Washington Post, during her detention, the mother repeatedly requested permission to take the child with her, but her requests were ignored. According to the woman's lawyer, Shaylyn Fluharty, all she needed was a copy of her son's passport.
She never received it.
For over a decade, a rule was in place under which parents were given a choice upon deportation: take their children with them or arrange their lives in the United States. This practice existed precisely because deportation could separate children from those who could best protect them.
After the child's death, Fluharty expected that it would be easy to bring her mother back to the United States for the funeral: the murder had been confirmed by police, and a suspect had been arrested.
But this required four separate approvals from federal authorities: first, permission for 48 hours, then for 56, and then permission to hold the funeral.
"Can we at least be given time to bury the body?" she recalls her words.
Ultimately, USCIS granted the woman a six-month humanitarian visa. She returned to Florida wearing a GPS tracker.
Previously, Fluharty said, she could have filed a complaint with the department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which investigates abuses and intervenes in individual cases.
"There's a purge going on at every level," she is convinced. "Even informal connections that would allow someone to simply call the right person have been destroyed."
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Under Noem, the agency effectively became ineffective: in March 2025, more than 100 employees were fired, and approximately 600 investigations were suspended. A court ordered the agency to be retained, but according to the Guardian, fewer than 40 people remain, and of nearly 6 complaints, only 183 were directly investigated.
"I know of countless children who are currently in dangerous conditions because of our government's actions," Fluharty concluded. "This case is no exception."
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An Afghan man who fought for the US for 10 years died in an ICE detention center.
How Trump's Immigration Restrictions Are Creating Problems for Spouses of US Citizens
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