Trump’s FBI Forced Thousands of Agents to Chase Immigrants, Not Criminals

The FBI, an agency meant to protect Americans from crime and terrorism, was repurposed under Trump’s second administration to fuel mass deportations on an unprecedented scale. According to bureau records obtained by The Intercept, the number of FBI personnel working on immigration-related matters exploded from 279 before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 to over 6,500 by September of the same year. That’s roughly one in six of the bureau’s entire workforce diverted to immigration enforcement.

This dramatic shift began immediately after Trump took office again. Within six days, 1,390 FBI employees were assigned to immigration tasks. By February, that number more than doubled to 2,941 as the administration rolled out aggressive policies allowing law enforcement to enter homes without warrants under the pretense of gang investigations. The surge continued, peaking above 6,500 in September and remaining alarmingly high even after Congress pumped an additional $170 billion into immigration enforcement.

Experts warn this reallocation of resources severely undermined the FBI’s core mission. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, called the scale “somewhat shocking,” emphasizing that much of the work was likely civil immigration enforcement, which falls outside the FBI’s mandate. David J. Bier of the Cato Institute highlighted the dangerous consequences of pulling agents away from criminal investigations and counterterrorism, especially during ongoing conflicts like the war with Iran.

This redeployment was orchestrated under FBI Director Kash Patel, a known Trump loyalist who reportedly follows orders without question. The FBI’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) extended beyond typical agency boundaries, turning the bureau into an enforcement arm for deportations rather than a defender of public safety.

The consequences are clear: FBI agents who should be tracking violent criminals and terrorism threats were instead hunting immigrants, weakening national security and undermining the rule of law. This politicization of the bureau reveals how Trump’s administration weaponized federal agencies to enforce its harsh immigration agenda, disregarding both congressional intent and public safety.

The FBI and ICE have yet to respond to questions about these staggering personnel shifts. But the evidence is undeniable: under Trump, the FBI became a tool for mass deportation, sacrificing its core responsibilities and putting communities and the nation at risk.