DHS ICE CBP OPR, WTF?
FOIAbles of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's decadent tenure.
I can write with absolute certainty that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was not fired for failure to respond to the 52 FOIA requests and appeals I’ve submitted to DHS since last summer.
It has nothing to do with my efforts to obtain information about inappropriate relationships, fraud, drug abuse, bribery, theft, sexual assault, misuse of funds, and excessive force within the department.
To be fair, DHS did respond.
Specifically, Customs and Border Protection. (God love ‘em.) While their counterparts at ICE have all but ghosted me on these identical subjects, CBP has released dribs and drabs of material on bribery, drug and alcohol use, relationships with subordinates, and fraud.
The requests were narrow to Noem’s tenure: records from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)—the component charged with investigating these types of accusations. CBP has sent nothing back regarding theft, sexual assault, misuse of funds, or excessive force. But I did receive OPR records on the other categories of allegations. They’re heavily redacted (in many cases, completely redacted), but nonetheless provide a window into CBP—and the cases that the office was working during Noem’s term.
Documents don’t make a story…yet. What we have here is a signal from inside Noem’s DHS about some of the misconduct CBP was investigating. Does their leadership take this seriously? Hard to tell. After requesting a list of detailed questions from me more than a month ago, their press shop stopped responding.
To Representative Swallwell’s point, there are open questions about accountability within DHS. And I’ll continue to seek answers.
Why am I publishing these today? Honestly, I thought I had more time…perhaps, Secretary Noem did too.
(Read the OPR files for yourself: bribery, drug and alcohol use, relationships with subordinates, and fraud (100% redacted).
Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility - Incidents filed between January 20, 2025 - July 29, 2025 by Category
A summary of the contents (with some help from NotebookLM):
Inappropriate Subordinate Relationships
April 29, 2025: A management inquiry investigated an allegation that a Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (SBPA) had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (SBPA).
May 9, 2025: A related inquiry was filed regarding an inappropriate subordinate relationship, directing readers to “please see attached source document for additional information”.
Redactions:
Exemptions (b)(2), (b)(7)(E): Used to redact the Event IDs and the RIG source tracking number.
Exemptions (b)(6), (b)(7)(C): Used to redact the name of the subordinate Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (SBPA) involved.
Exemption (b)(7)(A): Large blocks spanning the remainder of the subject area are completely redacted.
Bribery
February 28, 2025: A Chinese national attempted to bribe a Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO) with $900 to gain entry into the U.S.. The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) declined the case due to the circumstances and amount. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested the individual, but the Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) declined prosecution. The subject was processed for Expedited Removal from the U.S. that same day.
March 26, 2025: A Supervisory Customs and Border Protection Officer (SCBPO) self-reported a bribery incident involving a Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO).
May 5, 2025: An investigation was opened into an unknown Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employee receiving kickbacks for every CBP vehicle towed.
May 13, 2025: An anonymous tip alleged a traveler gave a monetary bribe to an unknown Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO) at an airport. A search of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) systems by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) found no employee matching the provided name and no derogatory information regarding the traveler.
Redactions:
Exemptions (b)(2), (b)(7)(E): Used to redact Event IDs, RIG (Report of Investigation/Incident Gathering) numbers, and Office of Inspector General/Department of Homeland Security (OIG/DHS) Blackbook numbers.
Exemptions (b)(6), (b)(7)(C): Used to obscure personally identifiable information (PII) including Special Agent (SA) names, employee names, the Chinese national’s name and Date of Birth (DOB), specific airport locations, and the flight/boarding information for the subject’s removal.
Exemption (b)(7)(A): Used to heavily redact entire sections at the end of the bribery logs, likely indicating ongoing law enforcement proceedings.
Alcohol and Drug Use
January 29, 2025: A Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (SBPA) reported the arrest of a Contractor (CTR) for Driving Under the Influence / Driving While Intoxicated (DUI/DWI).
February 27, 2025: A Border Patrol Agent (BPA) was found drunk in public by the police department and was taken to a volunteer-run recovery shelter to sober up.
March 6, 2025: A Contractor was referred to a secondary inspection at a Port of Entry, where a Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO) discovered 1.0 gram of cocaine in their wallet. The contractor was issued a $500 penalty.
March 12, 2025: An inquiry was closed regarding a positive drug test for cocaine.
April 3, 2025: A mechanic supervisor returned a positive drug test.
April 7, 2025: A Border Patrol Processing Coordinator (BPPC) returned a positive drug test for marijuana. Records indicated the employee was no longer active with Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
May 8, 2025: An Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) Field Office Duty Agent (Special Agent / SA) was contacted regarding a Supervisory employee who tested positive for Codeine during a random drug test.
Redactions:
Exemptions (b)(2), (b)(7)(E): Used to redact Event IDs across all entries.
Exemptions (b)(6), (b)(7)(C): Extensively used to protect identities and specific details, including the names of arrested contractors, the drunk-in-public Border Patrol Agent (BPA), the specific Port of Entry, the identities of officers conducting searches, and local police report numbers.
Exemption (b)(7)(A): Massive blocks of information are completely withheld under this exemption, interrupting event narratives and hiding subsequent incident details.
Fraud / Financial Allegations
Summary of Incidents:
The entire list of financial-related allegations has been withheld from the released record.
Instances of Redaction:
Exemption (b)(7)(A): Every single entry under the “Financial Type” header—including the Event Date, Event ID, Allegation, and Incident Summary—is completely redacted under (b)(7)(A).