The DHS Diaries
DHS is killing random migrants on the street, making detainees perform slave labor, and stockpiling more money than most small countries
The story of the man killed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, in Houston, last week has dominated headlines and inspired protests since the shooting occurred. Like many people killed by DHS in recent years, Araujo was not the migrant being sought by migration authorities during the traffic stop in which officers shot him to death.
According to statements by DHS, authorities were looking for two Guatemalan men. Araujo was on his way to work, driving two other men, when officers stopped his van. Accounts at that point of the story vary.
DHS officers claim Araujo disobeyed orders and tried to strike them with his vehicle — a claim DHS personnel have often falsely used to justify police murders — forcing officers to kill Araujo. DHS claims it is unable to provide proof because the officers were not wearing body cameras.
They have provided no evidence to support their claims. In at least four previous cases, independent video showed that DHS was lying about the circumstances of the killing. DHS has killed at least 10 people during migration operations since US President Donald Trump assumed office.
Of the other two men in the van, one has been identified as Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, and is the victim’s brother. He is in migration custody and awaiting deportation, according to statements DHS made to the New York Times.
All three passengers say DHS is lying and that officers were never in any danger.
Araujo’s family says he has lived in the US for 35 years and would never have attempted to assault officers or disobey orders. His family members and local Houston officials have demanded a full investigation.
Local authorities say they have been blocked by federal investigators, who have taken jurisdiction of the case.
Araujo’s son, Ronaldo Araujo, in statements to the media, says his father was in the process of taking steps to regularize his status and worked constantly to put his 3 children through college.
“For the better part of the last 35 years, we were his priority,” Ronaldo told ABC News. “He got the American dream for us, and he was on his way to obtaining his American dream through the work permit.”
In related news, the Mexican government is demanding criminal charges against DHS personnel due to 17 Mexicans who died in ICE custody or during immigration enforcement operations by the Trump administration, Mexican officials said Thursday.
“We’re filthy rich, how bout you work for $1 a day”
Last month DHS was budgeted an additional $70 billion dollars for migration enforcement. That’s on top of the $100 billion they got last year, and the special budget allocation of $400 billion over ten years as part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” proposed by US President Donald Trump.
In fact, they’ve got so much money they’re not even sure how to spend it all. For example, DHS is launching their own private airline company to handle deportations and spending $1.5 billion just to avoid oversight of detention centers run by the private sector.
They’re buying up real-estate that they plan to house detainees in and logistical hubs to coordinate transport.
As we’ve reported before, they are also investing in spyware, surveillance technology, and assembling databases of protesters and critics.
DHS is spending more on migration enforcement than Honduras and Guatemala combined spend on their national militaries.
Nonetheless, instead of paying cleaners at detention centers they have contracted out to private companies, those companies are instead paying migrants they kidnapped off the streets as little as $1/day to work as janitorial staff, according to multiple deportees who spoke with Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Jose Luis was one of multiple migrant who spoke to the media company about their experience as cleaners in their own prisons.
“It was the only way to earn some money to buy what I needed in there,” he Luis told El Pais. He needed basics for the dispensary while he was held, such as, “soup, toiletries a toothbrush. I knew my family couldn’t deposit money into my account,”
Luis was detained by ICE, then held at a detention center run by The GEO Group, a private prison company which holds a multimillion-dollar contract with DHS.
Luis was held for months in southern California before being deported to Mexico. He had no access to money he had saved working in the US, and often went long periods without speaking to his family.
“I put up with it because I thought, ‘I need the dollar they’re going to pay me today to buy food.”
The Roundup
DHS private server, which contains sensitive though not classified information, was hacked and the data likely breached, according to statements by the organization last week. You’d think with a pile of money the size of a large lake in Siberia they could afford some decent digital security. Guess not. Don’t worry. They’re investigating. Their track record at investigating is geat. Wait. No. It isn’t.
Three protesters who were assaulted by ICE at protests in Chicago are suing DHS. The three Illinois residents all claim they suffered permanent damage after being assaulted: one shot in the face with pepper balls at close range, one from repeated lung exposure to chemical agents, and one who was forcibly thrown down onto pavement by jack-booted thugs.
In recent weeks, as part of plans to try to keep a lower public profile, DHS has been cancelling bids to buy warehouses and turn them into detention centers. Now instead, the organization is buying facilities currently being leased by private prison companies. We aren’t sure why they think that is better PR. But again, pile of money.
DHS sent armed agents to the house of a man who wrote an angry email criticizing DHS. He is also suing them, saying the visit amounted to intimidation and violated his 1st amendment rights. We’re pretty sure DHS has money to pay lawyers though, so we’ll see what happens.
A Conservative think tank says DHS’s deportation numbers are made-up and they want concrete and timely information. They are also suing DHS, demanding they turn over internal data.
A quick word to our readers about the DHS diaries:
We published weekly updates about ICE and DHS for more than a year because we think it is crucial to the public interest. But in 2026, they became, by far, our least read content.
That’s a LOT of work for something few people were reading. We understand that no single news story can stay in the headlines for years and that people’s attention drifts elsewhere, like the proverbial frogs in slow-boiling water, and that fatigue of a subject happens to all of us.
But we felt we needed to rethink our approach, for ourselves, and our readers. So we’ve decided to do one really big update a month instead of the weeklies.
We’ll still be covering individual stories related to migration as part of our regular coverage, of course. But the DHS Diaries are going to be monthly installments while we re-test how that works for you, our readers.
We would love any feedback you have on that. It helps us immensely in making decisions. After all, Pirate Wire Services is here for you!
Thanks again.
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Hasta pronto, piratas!
They should buy some old cruise ships and some barges and float thousands of criminal illegal aliens back asap!
Deport deport Deport