FBI Reassigns 25% of Agents to Immigration Enforcement Under Trump, Report Finds

The FBI underwent a dramatic restructuring under the Trump administration, reassigning more than 6,500 agents to immigration enforcement within the first nine months of Donald Trump’s second term. The move, reported by The Intercept on Friday, represents a seismic shift in the bureau’s priorities.

Before January 2025, only 279 FBI agents were assigned to immigration cases. By September, that number had surged to over 6,500, expanding the task force by a factor of 23. In total, 9,161 FBI personnel—nearly a quarter of the bureau’s 38,000 staff—were working on immigration-related matters during Trump’s first nine months in office.

The scale of the reallocation is far larger than previously reported. In October, The Washington Post cited FBI data, obtained and circulated by Senator Mark R. Warner, indicating that around 3,000 agents had been reassigned to immigration enforcement. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, described the 6,500-plus figure as “a huge, huge number of people” and “somewhat shocking.”

FBI’s Core Mission Overhauled

Historically, the FBI has focused on crime, counterterrorism, and national security. However, the unprecedented shift toward civil immigration enforcement has raised concerns about the bureau’s ability to address criminal activity. Critics argue that diverting resources from criminal investigations could undermine public safety.

“That’s a striking diversion of resources away from public safety,” said David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. “We’re talking about the FBI diverting people away from criminal investigations and ongoing criminal activity and into civil immigration enforcement.”

“This is showing the extent to which the resources of the FBI were put at the disposal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement contrary to the intent of Congress, and the abuse of the funds that Congress grants the FBI to accomplish its mission,” Bier added.

Broader Federal Shift Toward Immigration Enforcement

The FBI is not alone in this reorientation. The Justice Department also scaled back criminal prosecutions to prioritize immigration cases. In the first six months of Trump’s term, the department closed approximately 23,000 criminal cases—including those involving terrorism, white-collar crime, and drugs—while initiating 32,000 new immigration prosecutions.

The shift suggests that the administration’s enforcement priorities may not align with its stated goals. Despite promises to target only the “worst of the worst”—such as murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and terrorists—federal authorities have arrested thousands of non-criminal immigrants nationwide.