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Timeline › 2026 › March › 18

March 18, 2026

7 entries on this date.

State Department adds 12 countries to $15,000 visa-bond program

On March 18, 2026, the State Department added 12 countries — Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Tunisia — to its visa-bond program, requiring B-1/B-2 visitor-visa applicants from those nations to post a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 as a condition of issuance, effective April 2, 2026. The addition brings the program to 50 countries, predominantly lower-income states; bonded travelers may enter only through commercial airports and are barred from land, sea, charter, and general-aviation ports of entry.

FBI Director Kash Patel admitted under oath that FBI buys Americans' location data from brokers without a warrant

On March 18, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel testified under oath at a Senate Intelligence Committee worldwide threats hearing in Washington, D.C. that the FBI purchases Americans' location data from commercial data brokers rather than obtaining a warrant, in response to questioning from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Patel said the practice is "consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act," directly reversing predecessor Christopher Wray's 2023 sworn testimony that the bureau had stopped the practice. Wyden called the warrantless purchase "an outrageous end run around the fourth amendment."

Gabbard's 2026 threat assessment drops climate and foreign election-interference analysis

On March 18, 2026, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released the Intelligence Community's 2026 Annual Threat Assessment and testified to the Senate and House intelligence committees. The assessment omitted the climate-and-environment analysis prior editions had carried — after Gabbard gutted the National Intelligence Council office covering those issues — and Gabbard told lawmakers the IC found no evidence of foreign threats to the November 2026 midterms, a departure from the community's prior findings on Russian and other election interference. Critics charged that the IC's flagship analytic product was being shaped to fit White House messaging.

Trump administration steered no-bid federal contracts worth up to $118M to Jan. 6 rally planner's firm Event Strategies

A March 18, 2026 New York Times report, later detailed in a July 2, 2026 House Natural Resources Committee Democratic staff oversight report, found that Event Strategies Inc.—an events firm formerly led by January 6 rally planner Justin Caporale—received an indefinite-delivery federal master contract worth up to $100 million plus more than $18 million in State Department contracts tied to the America250/Freedom250 anniversary events, all awarded outside competitive bidding. The State Department contracts, described blandly as "event planning" and "event support," listed the U.S. Chief of Protocol's office under Ambassador Monica Crowley as the funding office. Since the start of 2025 the firm had received 18 federal contracts connected to the semiquincentennial.

NPR investigation revealed ICE collected DNA samples from protesters arrested at immigration enforcement operations without related charges

An NPR investigation published March 18, 2026 documented six people arrested by federal immigration officers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Oregon while observing or protesting ICE operations who were then subjected to DNA cheek swabs despite facing no charges tied to their protest conduct. In the lead case, ICE officers tackled and detained a Minneapolis protest observer, identified only as Ben, for roughly three hours in late January 2026 before swabbing him, leaving him with three broken ribs. DHS told NPR federal law requires DNA collection from those arrested or facing charges, but legal scholars said applying that authority to civil-immigration protest arrests is constitutionally doubtful.

Former Bonner Springs, Kansas detective Kyle Rector charged with using Flock cameras, police databases to stalk estranged wife

On March 18, 2026, Wyandotte County, Kansas prosecutors filed 18 criminal charges against former Bonner Springs Police Department detective Kyle Rector, 39, after a Kansas Bureau of Investigation inquiry found he used Flock Safety license-plate readers, a department crime- center database, and his patrol vehicle to track his estranged wife and two men she was allegedly involved with. The surveillance began after the couple separated in November 2025 and continued after Rector's wife obtained a protection order in January 2026, which investigators say he violated with additional database searches; Bonner Springs police had already fired him on Jan. 26, 2026.

Utah Gov. Cox signed HB 174, permanently banning hormone therapy for transgender minors

On March 18, 2026, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed House Bill 174, the "Sex Characteristic Change Treatment Amendments," converting the state's temporary 2023 moratorium on hormone therapy for transgender minors into a permanent ban. The law bars new hormone treatment for minors and requires most minors already receiving care to taper off within roughly six months of the law's May 2026 effective date, with a narrow exception for certain older adolescents. It passed both chambers by wide margins over the objections of civil-liberties groups.