The reassignment of personnel from various federal agencies to immigration enforcement operations continues. Nearly a quarter of FBI agents across the country are now assigned to immigration enforcement, reports Perry Stein of The Washington Post.
The reassignment of 3,000 agents to immigration has raised concerns among current and past FBI officials who believe morale is low across the agency as agents want to work on the cases they were initially hired to cover. Most of those cases involved drug trafficking, cybercrime, terrorism, counterintelligence, and more, Stein notes.
"We are weakening ourselves day by day," said Chris O’Leary, a former FBI senior executive and special agent. "Having agents walk the beat and conduct immigration arrests is really a misuse of exquisite ability."
Additionally, personnel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have also been reassigned to support mass deportation efforts, report Patrick Howell O'Neill and Jeff Stone of Bloomberg.
In recent weeks, agents from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) who usually work on reporting threats to U.S. industry and critical infrastructure were reassigned to work on immigration enforcement, according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, despite claims by the administration of a "more than 1,000%" surge in assaults against ICE agents, an analysis by Colorado Public Radio reveals a more modest increase—approximately 25% in federal assault charges this year, report Allison Sherry and Ben Markus on an episode of NPR's Morning Edition.
Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Forum Daily. We'll be off Monday in observance of Indigenous Peoples Day but will be back in your inbox on Tuesday. I’m Clara Villatoro, the Forum’s VP of strategic communications, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Masooma Amin, Jillian Clark, Nicci Mattey, and Dan Gordon. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
CHALLENGES — Project Homecoming, the program that provides assistance to those looking to self deport, is not as simple as advertised. Many immigrants who decided to apply have been waiting for months, report Melissa Sanchez and Mariam Elba of ProPublica. Separately, many immigrants with no criminal record are being targeted by immigration authorities, report William Brangham and Ian Couzens of PBS News. Brangham and Couzens speak to Leslie Gonzales, a U.S. citizen whose non-citizen husband was arrested in the Boston area.
FOOD SUPPLY — The Department of Labor’ officials warn that some of the current immigration policy changes could cause "immediate dangers" to the United States' food supply, reports Justin Boggs of Scripps News. "Based on the Department's extensive experience administering the H-2A temporary agricultural visa program, the available data strongly demonstrates a persistent and systemic lack of sufficient numbers of qualified, eligible and interested American workers to perform the kinds of work that agricultural employers demand," read the DOL’s note.
RECORD HIGH — With 22 migrant deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody during fiscal year 2025, the agency recorded its highest fatality count in 20 years, reports Patricia Caro of El País. Now with the federal government shutdown, there are concerns that less oversight will mean more negligence. "[N]o one should suffer in these conditions and no family should have to bear this tragic loss," Marcela Hernández, Capacity Building Director at Detention Watch Network.
FIGHTING FOR TALENT — Countries around the world are looking to capitalize on the administration’s new changes to H-1B visa program, attracting talent that might once have gone to the U.S., report Chris Johnson of Roll Call. Canada, Germany and China are just some of the countries looking to attract this talent, worrying experts about America’s future, especially in areas such as technology.
