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The One Big Beautiful Bill Made ICE Shutdown-Proof and Eroded Fiscal Norms
DHS is temporarily funded until February 13 – but whether the DHS is shut down or not, ICE and CBP will still be able to pursue their immigration crackdown largely undisrupted due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). By shifting immigration enforcement and defense spending outside the normal appropriations process, Republicans have short-circuited the system of checks and balances that restrain the growth and abuse of government power. The long-term result will be less oversight, weaker constraints on fiscal irresponsibility, and greater partisanship.
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Former DHS Secretary Says “Systemic DHS Problems” Existed Before, but He No Longer Recognizes Today’s ICE Operations
In an unflinching conversation on immigration and enforcement, homeland security experts Juliette Kayyem and Jeh Johnson discuss ICE.
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The Conservative Researcher Being Linked to the FBI’s Seizure of Election Records in Georgia
Kevin Moncla has tried repeatedly to prove that the 2020 vote in Fulton County, Georgia, was tainted by fraud. While state election overseers have rejected his claims, his work may be fueling the federal government’s ongoing investigations.
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A Whiff of Espionage Around the Epstein Files Points to How Intelligence and Influence Interact
The Epstein papers have thrown up speculation about whether the late financier and sex offender might have performed services for one or another of the big intelligence agencies.
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A Terrorism Label That Comes Before the Facts Can Turn “Domestic Terrorism” into a Useless Designation
Shortly after Alex Pretti was killed by ICE agents, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said he committed an “act of domestic terrorism.” Noem made the same accusation against Good. But a “domestic terrorism” label that comes before the facts does not just risk being wrong in one case. It teaches the public, case by case, to treat the term as propaganda rather than diagnosis. When that happens, the category becomes less useful precisely when the country needs clarity most.
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UK Polling Clerks Struggle to Spot Fake IDs, Study Reveals
The introduction of mandatory photo ID in the 2024 general election may not have provided the security boost promised by the government, new research suggests.
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NATO’s Loss Is Russia’s Gain
The Trump-instigated Greenland crisis will inevitably do a long-term damage to NATO’s cohesion, and will make it more difficult for the alliance to achieve its highest priorities of deterring Russian aggression, defending NATO territory, and supporting Ukraine. John Drennan and Ariane Tabatabai write that a result of the unnecessary crisis, “Moscow is making major progress on a long-term foreign policy goal—the weakening of NATO—without having to expend resources or being involved at all.”
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Gun Sellers Have Made Millions from Trump’s Deployment of Immigration Agents
Firearms companies – faced with plummeting sales to the general public – found a lucrative new opportunity last year: arming President Donald Trump’s immigration operation. Last year, DHS spent a record sum on guns and ammunition, a Trace analysis found.
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New START to Expire: Nuclear Arms Control Goes Up in Smoke
On 5 February 2026, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) will expire. This is the last remaining major treaty between the United States (US) and Russia limiting their deployed strategic nuclear warheads.
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Weakening Nuclear Arms Control Increases Risks of Crisis Escalation
The expiration of the New START agreement between the United States and Russia on 5 February marks the near-complete collapse of an arms control system that once made nuclear competition predictable, verifiable and contained. The risk is not merely enlargement of nuclear arsenals, but the diminishment of safeguards against escalation, with increasing instability and shorter warning times.
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States Reeling from Winter Storm Encounter a Smaller FEMA
The Trump administration was quick to mobilize initial aid, but it’s not clear how a shrunken agency will handle the long-term recovery costs.
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“We Should Take Over the Voting… Nationalize the Voting”
As courts have now repeatedly found, Trump has been willing to use the purported power of executive orders to command election changes that Congress has never mandated and that the Constitution gives him no power to command. We should be properly vigilant against any repeated such attempt before, during, or after the approaching midterms.
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ICE and Border Patrol in Minnesota − Accused of Violating 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th Amendment Rights − Are Testing Whether the Constitution Can Survive
Chief Federal Judge Patrick Schiltz in Minnesota, criticizing ICE for acting as a “law unto itself,” accused the agency of failing to follow 96 court orders from 74 different immigration cases in a single month. “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,” he said. Legal scholars are especially worried about ongoing ICE violations of the First, Second, Fourth, and 10th amendments.
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The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building
The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But new documents make no mention of the gang and reveal federal agents had information about “illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments.”
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Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting
The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.
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The long view
A Turning Point: U.S. Recognizes Agriculture as a Domain of Defense
The US has legitimized the role of food supply in national defense. It has recognized that in a world of rupture, a nation that cannot feed itself cannot defend itself. A new policy effectively ends the era of agriculture functioning solely as a commercial sector.
Social Media’: The Changing Tech of Terror
In the wake of the white noise generated by mainstream social media channels and apps, a new trend of ‘anti-social media’ has emerged in recent years, which seeks to abandon mainstream platforms, reduce screen time, and seek private, intimate, or even ‘analogue’ communication to avoid algorithm-driven polarization, surveillance and loneliness. But some of these so-called anti-social media platforms have also become off-the-wall mediums for disseminating extremist propaganda.
The Trump Administration’s Cyber Strategy Fundamentally Misunderstands China’s Threat
The adoption of an offense-first strategy is a dangerous miscalculation. It will not diminish Beijing’s campaigns, and it coincides with a significant deterioration of cyber defenses that have kept U.S. networks and Americans safe.
Allfare: China’s Whole-of-Nation Strategy
To analyze how states exert their influence, scholars often compartmentalize actions into rigid analytical frameworks, which obscures the holistic scope of the challenge.
ICE Not Only Looks and Acts Like a Paramilitary Force – It Is One, and That Makes It Harder to Curb
ICE and CBP meet many but not all of the most salient definitions of a “paramilitary force.” Both are also not subject to the same constitutional restrictions that apply to other law enforcement agencies. ICE and CBP thus bear some resemblance to the informal paramilitaries used in many countries for “regime maintenance,” carrying out political repression along partisan and ethnic lines, even though they are official agents of the state.
How the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Shaped ICE’s Immigration Strategy
The immigration enforcement response to 9/11 set the stage for ICE’s aggressive conduct. Under this way of thinking, if the homeland is under threat, then those who challenge immigration enforcement are “domestic terrorists.” Investigations into ICE officers are muted, for the officers are protecting the homeland against existential danger. Severe tactics to detain immigrants and condemn protesters – and violate U.S. citizens’ constitutional protections — become not only permissible but also advisable.