Federal prosecutors have filed just eight gun or drug offenses in the first four months of 2026, a dramatic decline from 77 cases during the same period last year, according to a Reuters analysis. This plunge underscores how President Donald Trump's focus on mass deportation has diverted resources from traditional crime-fighting.
Sharp Drop in Federal Prosecutions
Overall, prosecutors charged 90 people with felonies in that timeframe, roughly half the number from a year earlier. Among these are charges against journalist Don Lemon linked to a protest in a Minneapolis church, while 17 cases involved immigration offenses. The Justice Department, reeling from an exodus of career prosecutors, has quietly abandoned thousands of criminal cases as it reorients toward immigration enforcement.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty criticized the shift, telling Reuters, "You can't tell me that sex trafficking and drug trafficking is less important than people going into a church to protest. It's a public safety issue." A DOJ spokeswoman defended the approach, stating that immigration work has not hindered other prosecutions.
Impact on Local Justice Systems
Short-staffed U.S. Attorney's offices are struggling to bring new cases and manage legal blowback from immigration operations. In Minnesota, a federal prosecutor broke down in court, saying "this system sucks," while the top federal prosecutor admitted the caseload is "crushing." Career attorneys resigned after federal agencies rebuffed probes into ICE and instead targeted the widow of a man fatally shot by an agent.
The departures halved a team of 50 federal prosecutors in Minnesota, with five of six criminal section supervisors leaving. In some cases, prosecutors drop charges or ask local authorities to take over. A judge dismissed a firearm possession case against Tavon Timberlake after prosecutors missed deadlines, citing his right to a speedy trial. Last month, prosecutors sought to drop an armed carjacking case involving two deaths and an injured child, which state prosecutors will now handle.
