dhs
Every record this desk has filed under dhs, newest first, each with the number of sources it can still show you.
The Supreme Court let the Homeland Security Department's SAVE program go back to checking registered voters' citizenship against Social Security records by pausing a June 22 ruling that had set the modified program aside; the majority said the 90-day federal moratorium on systematic removals limits the stay's potential impact before November 3 but does not bar one-by-one inquiries, and three justices dissented.
On September 25 the Supreme Court granted the Department of Homeland Security's application in No. 26A308 and stayed a June 22 district court order that had set aside the modified SAVE program. That version checks voters' names, dates of birth and full or partial Social Security numbers against Social Security Administration records and allows bulk searches; when it cannot confirm citizenship, the agency that asked must request proof from the voter to register or stay registered. The unsigned majority found the challengers likely have standing through a naturalized citizen in Louisiana whose Social Security record is out of date, but said their claims likely fail because 8 U.S.C. 1373 authorizes DHS to request and receive citizenship information from other agencies. It said the National Voter Registration Act's 90-day bar limits the stay's potential impact before federal elections, while individualized inquiries remain permitted. Justice Jackson, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, dissented. The stay is not a merits ruling; the government's appeal continues in the D.C. Circuit. The general election is November 3, 2026.
Also filed undersupreme-courtvotingelectionssocial-securityprivacycitizenship
A September 18 proclamation extends the $100,000 H-1B payment for another year, to September 21, 2027, citing payments on over 700 petitions and a 92 percent drop in outsourcing-firm registrations, and does not mention that a federal court vacated the guidance used to collect it; USCIS's page still says DHS will comply with that ruling.
Proclamation 11069, signed September 18 and published in the Federal Register on September 23, extended for 12 months, to September 21, 2027, the $100,000 payment required with new H-1B petitions for workers outside the United States. It says the payment has been made for over 700 petitions since September 21, 2025, that the largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms cut their combined registrations from 24,946 to 2,055, and that consular processing requests fell nearly 97 percent. It does not mention that on June 8, 2026 a federal court in Massachusetts vacated the agency guidance used to collect the payment, or that the First Circuit refused to pause that ruling on July 24. USCIS's H-1B page, last reviewed September 21, still says DHS will comply with the court's order. A companion order, Executive Order 14431, tells State, Labor and DHS to weigh a sponsor's layoffs in the previous year, or planned ones, and gives the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division until October 18 to begin reviewing labor condition applications already on file.
Also filed underh-1bimmigrationwhite-houselabor-departmentfederal-courtsfederal-register
GAO says ICE 'has wasted funds' on detention expansion: it bought 11 warehouses for about $1.07 billion, now plans to sell seven that cost $707 million, and has $313 million obligated to renovate one in Surprise, Arizona that it has agreed in court not to convert until an environmental review is finished.
GAO report GAO-26-108663, dated September 24, examines how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is spending its new detention money, which includes $45 billion for detention capacity through fiscal year 2029. Between January and April 2026 ICE bought 11 warehouses for about $1.07 billion. In June it told GAO it was working with the General Services Administration to sell seven of them, which cost $707 million. The $1.07 billion covers all eleven; the $707 million covers the seven. ICE reported $7.7 million in nonrecoverable costs to buy the seven and estimates it spent about $12.8 million, as of August 2026, on utilities, security and other services at them. It obligated $313 million to renovate a warehouse in Surprise, Arizona, and $113 million for one in Hagerstown, Maryland. Both projects are largely on hold because of suits by the two states' attorneys general. GAO concludes that ICE 'has wasted funds on unsuccessful detention initiatives' and has no comprehensive strategic plan. DHS agreed to write one, with an estimated completion date of August 31, 2027. The next federal status report on the Surprise environmental review is due in early November, by this desk's count.
Also filed undergaoiceimmigration-detentionfederal-spendingarizonaaudit
DHS took more than three years to investigate most whistleblower retaliation complaints, and then took between four months and two years to decide what to do about the ones it substantiated.
GAO's September 17 report on the Department of Homeland Security found its Office of Inspector General took over three years to investigate 39 of the 73 whistleblower retaliation cases it opened and closed in fiscal years 2018 through 2025. Where a complaint was substantiated, the Secretary is expected to decide on corrective action within 30 days; GAO found those decisions waited a further four months to over two years. OIG officials cited case complexity and limited staff, and said they had focused on quality and thoroughness rather than timeliness. GAO's finding is narrower and harder to argue with: OIG policy requires timely review but has never defined what timely means in measurable terms, evaluated its own timeliness, or built any mechanism to hold itself to one.
Also filed undergaowhistleblowersoversightfederal-workforce
DHS terminated 362 grants and pulled back about $1 billion in 2025. GAO found some disaster-mitigation projects delayed by nearly a year — and the department taking the same approach again without writing down what it learned.
A February 2025 executive order directed agencies to consult the U.S. DOGE Service and review grants for termination within 30 days. GAO's September 17 report on what followed at the Department of Homeland Security: all obligated grant disbursement paused in February 2025, then 362 grants terminated and about $1 billion deobligated across four DHS components, plus new requirements imposed on remaining recipients. GAO found the approach 'made it difficult to execute grant programs' — some disaster mitigation projects were delayed by nearly a year. The recommendation is not that the terminations were wrong. It is that DHS is continuing to take similar actions and has not incorporated what this round taught it.
Also filed undergaograntspublic-spendingdisaster-mitigation
DHS proposes taking away the 60 days a laid-off H-1B worker has to find a new job. Comments close November 10.
The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule on September 11 that would remove the discretionary grace period of up to 60 days that workers in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1 and TN status currently get after their employment ends. Without it, the proposal would require a worker to depart the United States immediately upon failing to maintain the employment. DHS's own analysis says some workers may lose income and some may be issued Notices to Appear, and it offers a qualitative assessment rather than a count of the people affected. Nothing has changed yet: this is a proposal, the current rule still applies, and written comments are open until November 10, 2026.
Also filed underuscisimmigrationh-1bfederal-registerrulemakingcomment-period
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