The Daily Populous Saturday January 25th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by usatoday.com and submitted by wizardofthefuture

Trump deputizes thousands of federal agents to arrest immigrants

Show Caption Hide Caption ICE agents arrest immigrants with criminal records in Fairfax County, Va. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents say their public safety mission is harder in non-cooperative counties such as Fairfax County, Va.

In a move that could supercharge the government's deportation forces, the Trump administration late Thursday deputized thousands more federal law enforcement officers to arrest immigrants in the country illegally.

Two agencies typically enforce the nation's complex Title 8 immigration laws: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in the country's interior, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the nation's borders.

On Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman expanded the universe of federal law enforcement officers who can investigate and apprehend immigrants. It wasn't immediately clear how many officers would be reassigned to immigration enforcement.

"Mobilizing these law enforcement officials will help fulfill President Trump’s promise to the American people to carry out mass deportations," Huffman said in a statement. "For decades, efforts to find and apprehend illegal aliens have not been given proper resources. This is a major step in fixing that problem."

Huffman authorized Department of Justice law enforcement officials, including the U.S. Marshals, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to do immigration enforcement.

Former Homeland Security agents said deputizing officers from other agencies could increase the ability to deport people here illegally. But they also raised concerns about inter-agency competition and the potential for widespread civil rights abuses, given the complexities of immigration law.

"They’re using it as a force multiplier," said Carlos Archuleta, who served more than three decades in ICE and retired as country attaché to Mexico for Homeland Security Investigations.

More: Trump wants to deport immigrants with criminal records. They're hard to track down.

Inter-agency competition is "definitely a concern," he said. "So is exposure to civil rights violations, if you’re not familiar with the law."

Roughly 6,000 ICE deportation agents manage a massive docket of more than 7.6 million immigrants in the country without legal status. Under the Biden administration, ICE was directed to focus on arresting those who represented public safety and national security threats.

This week, President Donald Trump and Congress – under the new Laken Riley Act – shifted the priority for immigration enforcement to more people in the country illegally, including those without serious criminal offense, mandating detention for people accused, charged with or convicted of low-level crimes.

The expanded authorities mean thousands of Justice Department officials and agents could feasibly participate in Trump's plans to deport millions of immigrants in the country illegally. The ATF had about 2,500 special agents in 2022, while DEA reported 4,600 special agents on staff in 2021. There were more than 3,600 U.S. Marshals and deputy U.S. Marshals in 2020.

It wasn't immediately clear how many DOJ law enforcement officers would be redirected to immigration enforcement.

"Those organizations don't normally fulfill that role," said Pete Hermansen, a retired Border Patrol agent who served more than two decades, including as director of special operations.

Those agencies have their own missions, including fighting drugs and weapons trafficking and protecting federal judges and judicial facilities.

Hermansen said there is clear crossover for DEA and ATF, whose investigations into drugs and weapons trafficking often lead them to criminal organizations also involved in migrant smuggling and immigration violations.

Hermansen couldn't recall a time when this sort of deputizing had occurred, outside of specific task forces.

"It's not standard operating procedure," he said.

bruceki on January 25th, 2025 at 15:36 UTC »

Trump is not worried about civil rights abuses because he has directed the DOJ to freeze all civil rights cases and investigations.

OrdinarySpecial1706 on January 25th, 2025 at 14:52 UTC »

Wait til he deputizes regular MAGA folks as a sort of immigration militia. Thats the sign to look for to know we’re fucked.

ToeDisastrous3501 on January 25th, 2025 at 14:41 UTC »

The effect that this is going to have on food prices - among many other things - is going to completely fuck the working class into full-fledged poverty.