Magaziner Bill to Require Civil Liberties Training for DHS Intelligence Employees Passes U.S. House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner's Department of Homeland Security Intelligence and Analysis Training Act, legislation that will require training for intelligence employees at the Department of Homeland Security on civil rights, civil liberties and privacy protections.

The legislation establishes a formal training curriculum for employees of the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), which is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and sharing intelligence with state, local, Tribal, territorial, and private-sector partners to help protect the American people from threats to public safety.

“Under the Trump Administration, the Department of Homeland Security has shown a willful disregard for the privacy and civil liberties of the American people,” said Magaziner. “This legislation is a small but important step toward reining in the lawless behavior by federal agents, and protecting the American people from federal overreach.”

Passage of Magaziner's legislation follows numerous examples of violations of civil liberties by the Department of Homeland Security during the second Trump Administration. 

During Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis from December 2025 to February 2026, undercover federal agents infiltrated meetings at a public library and a church, wore wires to record conversations, and ran license plates at an anti-ICE gathering to compile dossiers on attendees, prompting a federal class action alleging violations of the First and Fourth Amendments. 

Separately, DHS used an obscure customs statute to obtain YouTube account records forjournalists covering immigration enforcement, after a judge had already rejected search warrants for the same accounts for lack of probable cause. Meanwhile, the internal watchdog charged with checking abuses like these, DHS's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, was dismantled in March 2025, leaving the department with diminished oversight even as these incidents occurred.

Having passed the House, the bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

This is the first bill Magaziner has passed through the House as standalone legislation. He previously passed 13 amendments to other pieces of legislation, secured funding for30 earmarks, and attached his bill to help the seafood industry better market scup as part of the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act.

Text of the legislation can be viewed or downloaded here.

Rep. Magaziner’s remarks during floor debate on the bill can be viewed here.