United States Department of Homeland Security – Bias and Credibility

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QUESTIONABLE SOURCE

A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be untrustworthy and should be fact-checked on a per-article basis. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources.

• Overall, we rate the Department of Homeland Security as right-biased and questionable based on extreme anti-immigrant policy, dehumanizing rhetoric, selective presentation, documented inaccuracies, and the promotion of racial pseudoscience.

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History

The United States Department of Homeland Security was created after 9/11 to coordinate domestic security. DHS says it has “more than 260,000 employees” with duties spanning border security, emergency response, and cybersecurity, and outlines its mandate on About DHS. Its FY2025 Budget-in-Brief lists a $107.9B topline ($62.2B net discretionary) for operations and programs, as detailed in the DHS FY 2025 Budget in Brief and mirrored in the White House’s FY 2025 Budget. DHS also catalogs annual appropriations materials on its DHS Budget hub.

Kristi Noem (R) is the current Secretary of Homeland Security.

Read our profile on the United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

DHS is a U.S. federal executive department funded through congressional appropriations. See the FY 2025 Budget in Brief, and the White House FY 2025 Budget for official funding context.

Analysis / Bias

Under the current Trump administration, DHS messaging and press materials frequently employ dehumanizing labels and sweeping assertions about immigrants. For example, a Sept. 5, 2025 press release, “DHS Releases Names of Murders, Pedophiles, Rapists, and Child Predators in Louisiana Lockup”, brands detainees “barbaric criminal illegal aliens” and touts “Louisiana Lockup,” mirroring hardline frames repeated across the agency’s News & Updates listings and ICE-tagged items such as this roundup. The majority of information found on the website frames immigrants as criminals and dangerous. In December 2025, the DHS introduced dhs.gov/wow, a webpage that highlights crimes of immigrants. In other words, this is a propaganda page to justify mass deportations of immigrants.

The assertion that immigrants are inherently criminal and dangerous is a racist pseudoscience that has been repeatedly and overwhelmingly disproven by extensive research. This stereotype is a form of scientific racism used to incite fear, justify discrimination, and shape anti-immigrant policies, but it is not supported by empirical evidence. 

Further, recent federal court rulings indicate that many of DHS’s deportation and detention practices may be unconstitutional. Judges have blocked the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations, ruled that federal deployment of the National Guard for immigration enforcement violated the Posse Comitatus Act, and found that the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Venezuelans exceeded DHS’s legal authority. These cases highlight how aspects of DHS’s approach to immigration enforcement may conflict with constitutional protections such as due process.

In general, DHS is a government department with clear statutory responsibilities and transparent budgetary funding through Congress. However, current-era communications—such as the Louisiana press release and repeated “criminal illegal alien” roundups on the News & Updates pages—use propagandistic framing and, in notable instances highlighted by PolitiFact, advance claims that are unproven or misleading. They have also promoted AI-driven propaganda to instill fear and dehumanize immigrants with photos related to Alligator Alcatraz. 

Failed Fact Check

• “Fact-checking claims about Kilmar Abrego Garcia”, finds multiple official claims exaggerated or unsupported (e.g., MS-13 membership assertions that judges said government evidence did not prove, conflation of human smuggling with human trafficking). These discrepancies undermine DHS-aligned narratives and exemplify misleading or unsubstantiated claims that are amplified through official channels.
• Kristi Noem has a poor track record with fact-checkers.

Overall, we rate the Department of Homeland Security as right-biased and questionable based on extreme anti-immigrant policy, dehumanizing rhetoric, selective presentation, documented inaccuracies, and the promotion of racial pseudoscience. (D. Van Zandt 09/06/2025)

Source: https://www.dhs.gov/

Last Updated on December 9, 2025 by Media Bias Fact Check

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Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources