Nearly half of FBI agents in the United States' 25 largest field offices have been reassigned to support immigration enforcement, according to newly released data. The data, obtained by Democratic Senator Mark Warner and shared with the Guardian, indicates that 45% of agents in these major offices are now working alongside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel. Across all FBI offices, 23% of the bureau's roughly 13,000 agents are now dedicated to immigration-related tasks.
Warner, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said the reassignments have diverted agents from investigating cybercrimes, drug trafficking, terrorism, espionage, violent crimes, and counterintelligence. He warned that this shift undermines national security. 'When you pull a quarter of the FBI's top agents off the front lines of fighting terrorists, spies, drug traffickers, and violent criminals, the consequences are clear,' Warner said in a statement.
The data likely understates the scale of the reorganisation, as the FBI only counted agents spending more than half their time on immigration enforcement. Warner's office estimated that over a quarter of total FBI agent hours are now devoted to immigration, with some field offices redirecting more than half of their agents to the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump administration has targeted 3,000 daily immigration arrests and seeks to expand detention capacity to over 100,000.
Mike German, a former FBI agent and civil liberties advocate, described the move as unprecedented. He suggested FBI Director Kash Patel may be using the reassignments to identify loyalists and purge agents seen as disloyal to President Trump, noting reports of terminations related to the January 6 investigation. German also warned that FBI agents, trained as investigators, are ill-suited for the high-risk, indiscriminate nature of ICE raids, which have sometimes resulted in the detention of US citizens.
Current and former FBI agents have expressed concerns about the shift, with some noting low morale. The exact roles of FBI agents working with ICE remain unclear, as spokespeople for DHS, ICE, the FBI, and the Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment. German highlighted the loss of focus on public corruption and white-collar crime as a particular concern, as state and local agencies lack capacity to handle these cases.
