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A Missouri Senate committee heard testimony this week on a bill that would raise the state’s maximum interstate speed limit from 70 to 75 miles per hour.

Groups ask County Council to put the issue on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Two young women working at the Dellwood Dominos store on West Florissant just south of Interstate 270 were shot two days before Christmas in 2023. The shooter was a customer angry about his pizza.

The Department of Homeland Security secretary calls leakers a threat to national security and wants to prosecute them.

But much of what the public knows about DHS, which includes its agencies Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, is thanks to whistleblowers and leakers who have exposed the government’s increasingly unlawful conduct as it aggressively enforces immigration law across the country.

In recent months, a series of major investigations into DHS, ICE, and CBP have relied on insiders who provided documents and information to journalists. Journalists, in turn, published what the public would otherwise never see.

Here are just a few recent examples of the journalism that leaks have made possible:

ICE claims the power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant

In January, The Associated Press reported on an internal ICE memo instructing officers that they could forcibly enter people’s homes to make arrests without a warrant signed by a judge. Instead, the memo claimed that an administrative warrant — issued by the executive branch and never reviewed by a court — is sufficient.

The news story was based on a whistleblower complaint sent to Congress and shared with the AP by an anonymous congressional official. The complaint and memo were later made public.

Because of this reporting, based on a leak, the public learned of a major constitutional violation. ICE is reversing its own past practices and training materials, which had long instructed officers that a judicial warrant was required to enter a home.

Yet, as one legal expert noted, challenging ICE’s new interpretation of the law in court could be difficult, because courts have made it so hard to sue federal officers for violating constitutional rights. That makes public scrutiny one of the few tools available to challenge ICE’s claim that it can knock down your door without a warrant. And that scrutiny is possible only because of a leak.

DHS is labeling protesters “domestic terrorists.”

Journalist Ken Klippenstein has repeatedly exposed internal DHS activities using leaked government documents. One of his most recent revelations shows that DHS has labeled American citizens who protest against ICE as “domestic terrorists.”

According to documents leaked to Klippenstein, ICE branded a Portland, Oregon, man, Chandler Patey, and “countless other American protesters” as domestic terrorists based on minimal and dubious evidence. (The unsubstantiated rumor that Patey is the leader of antifa — whatever that even means — was started by a right-wing influencer, for instance.)

The leaks also revealed a DHS-wide portal that aggregates personal information about alleged terrorists, including protesters, allowing authorities to centralize surveillance of them.

Without sources willing to leak these documents, the public would have no idea that DHS is transforming constitutionally protected activity into domestic terrorism.

ICE’s expanding surveillance state, built with Big Tech

Some of the most detailed reporting on ICE’s surveillance infrastructure has come from leaks and information via confidential sources provided to outlets like 404 Media and Wired, which have exposed how major tech firms are helping build ICE’s spy tools.

Next time DHS talks about cracking down on leaks, think about all you wouldn’t know without leakers.

404 Media, for instance, recently relied on internal ICE materials to report about a tool developed by Palantir for ICE called “Elite.” Elite helps ICE decide what neighborhoods to raid by mapping the addresses of people targeted for deportation, using sensitive personal information from agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services. 404 Media even published a copy of an internal Elite user guide.

Similarly, Wired relied on confidential sources to report that the Department of Government Efficiency was working on a “master database” in April 2025 to help DHS track and surveil undocumented immigrants, built on Palantir software and stitched together from vast pools of government data. Experts warned of sweeping privacy violations affecting not only those who are undocumented, but citizens, too.

ICE’s propaganda machine

In addition to exposing DHS’s tactics and surveillance, leaks have also revealed how the government is working to shape public perception. In December 2025, The Washington Post reported on ICE’s internal “media machine” using leaked chats and other documents from within the agency.

Those messages showed ICE officials coordinating with the White House to push propaganda celebrating immigration arrests, mocking immigrants in private chats, and selectively curating videos and images to fit a political narrative. They illustrated how ICE is manufacturing and distributing content to flood the internet with its own propaganda and overwhelm independent sources of information.

While many believed, based on what they could see online, that the government was pumping out propaganda, these leaks confirmed it and gave the public inside information about how it operates.

Protect the whistleblowers who make this possible

These are just four examples of journalism — based on leaks — that have been essential to informing the public about America’s growing surveillance state.

These stories share a common thread: Without whistleblowers and leakers, the public would never know how DHS is breaking the law and abusing our civil rights and civil liberties.

So the next time DHS talks about cracking down on leaks, or the government actually prosecutes a whistleblower, think about all you wouldn’t know without leakers. If the government succeeds in silencing leakers and whistleblowers, it won’t make us safer. It will only help the powerful operate in the dark, without accountability.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. As the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement have intensified over the past year, politicians and journalists alike have begun referring to ICE as a “paramilitary force.” Rep. John Mannion, a New York Democrat, called ICE “a personal paramilitary unit of […]

Police say it all stemmed from a domestic dispute after a man allegedly shot and killed a woman in front of officers and then exchanged gunfire with police.

The City of St. Louis invites residents, stakeholders and community partners to participate in two significant upcoming PlanSTL neighborhood planning events in the North St. Louis neighborhoods that are part of Plan Areas 3 and 5. These events represent important milestones in the City’s ongoing efforts to shape inclusive, community-driven neighborhood plans and progress for […]

The post City Invites Community to Two North St. Louis Neighborhood Planning Events appeared first on Construction Forum.

By trading superutility man Brendan Donovan, the Cardinals bring back versatility of a different kind. The trade's centerpiece, 22-year-old prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje, is a rare switch-pitcher who can throw 90 mph with both arms.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 PLAY IT AGAIN SPORTS ROUNDUP BOYS BASKETBALL BELLEVILLE EAST 68, BELLEVILLE ALTHOFF CATHOLIC 54: East led Althoff at halftime 30-25, and went on to win in a crosstown rivalry game at Glenn Schott Center. Kyle Johnson led the Crusaders with 18 points, while Luke Smith had 16 points, and Michael Franklin, Jr. scored 10 points. The Lancers are now 9-14, while Althoff slips to 11-12. COLUMBIA 47, PINCKNEYVILLE 45: In a shootout at Pinckneyville, the host Panthers le

From First Alert 4: Laclede’s Landing is emerging as a growing residential district, just steps from the Gateway Arch. While the nightlife and club scene have long passed, new apartment units and supporting neighborhood businesses have been bringing back a sense of place and vibrancy to the historic district during the day. Camille Jackson opened […]

The post The Shift in Laclede’s Landing From Nightlife to Neighborhood appeared first on Construction Forum.

EDWARDSVILLE – The Edwardsville Police Department will be able to equip its officers with special crisis care response kits, thanks to a $13,875 grant awarded by the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation®. The crisis care response kits contain items used to administer aid in the event of a critical emergency until medical personnel can arrive. They will be placed in all active police fleet vehicles for quick access to improve the department’s lifesaving capabilities. “We

LOUISVILLE, IL. — Darren Bailey, former State Senator and candidate for Governor, is urging lawmakers to enact recently introduced legislation to opt the state into the federal “No Tax on Tips” policy. House Bill 4519 would give hospitality workers the same state tax benefits they currently enjoy on the federal portion of their taxes. It would exempt state taxes on tips up to $25,000. “It is time for both Democrats and Republicans to act in the best interests of

From Brookings: Artificial intelligence is the transformative technology of our time. As argued in the Brookings Press book, “Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence,” it is powering applications in finance, health care, education, transportation, defense, and e-commerce, among other sectors. AI’s ability to process large amounts of information and act independently on […]

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TROY, IL. – The Tri-Township Public Library and its Board of Trustees are proud to announce a landmark update to its membership policy. Following a unanimous vote during the board meeting on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, the library has officially approved the expanded Cards for Kids Act. This initiative ensures that every child between the ages of 5 and 18 within the community now has access to the library’s full suite of resources at no cost. By removing financial and residency barriers,

For the first time in more than a century, the Olympics are coming back to St. Louis. In 2028, soccer fans from around the globe will flock to the Gateway City to watch matches here at Energizer Park, the home of the St. Louis City SC.