Cortez Masto, Colleagues Demand Answers on Harms of Diverting Federal Agents for Immigration Enforcement

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and 28 of their colleagues sent a letter to President Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Noem, and Attorney General Bondi demanding answers on the impact of the administration's decision to pull thousands of federal law enforcement agents away from their work keeping dangerous criminals off the streets and reassign them to arrest, detain, and deport primarily non-violent immigrants.

"You have pulled agents away from some of the federal government's most critical criminal investigations, weakening the very work that ensures public safety. In a world in which we must prioritize the use of limited resources, an agent arresting non-violent immigrants necessarily means one less agent available to catch child predators and drug traffickers," the Senators wrote. "This diversion represents a deliberate choice: a stunning abdication of the basic responsibilities of the executive branch to the American people, and a direct threat to the security of communities across the country."

Though the majority of immigrants arrested have no criminal background, many agents across the federal government have been pulled off of cases involving child exploitation, drug trafficking, sanctions evasion, cyberattacks, domestic extremism, and foreign adversaries. This includes nearly 25% of agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and 80% of agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). At Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) - responsible for combatting child exploitation, human trafficking, fentanyl smuggling, and cartels - HSI personnel have warned that these reassignments are dismantling one of the country's most effective child protection and national security forces. To mitigate the damage, some investigators have even tried to work on their cases at nights or on weekends.

"Redirecting these investigators to pad deportation statistics is not simply irresponsible-it is a dereliction of duty with life-or-death consequences that puts the safety of our children in jeopardy," the Senators continued. "No modern administration has ever attempted a reallocation of this scale or recklessness."

The Senators' letter also calls out the dangerous national security implications of the administration's decision, including damage to cyber and critical infrastructure defenses that protect the systems Americans rely on every day for necessities like clean water, air conditioning, and electricity.

"Taken together, these actions are more than just a routine shift in administration priorities; they represent a systematic dismantling of the very institutions that protect Americans in their homes, online, and in their communities," the Senators continued. "The fact that the majority of individuals arrested during immigration enforcement operations to date have had no criminal history belies the administration's claim that it is targeting the "worst of the worst." Instead, it suggests that federal law enforcement capacity is being sacrificed to fuel a politically orchestrated deportation drive. That tradeoff is indefensible, and it puts Americans at risk to serve a political narrative, not a security strategy."

Read the full letter here.

As the former top law enforcement official in Nevada, Senator Cortez Masto has prioritized protecting communities across the state. She has secured historic funding for the Byrne JAG grant program, the leading source of criminal justice funding in the country. Recently, she urged the chairman of the Banking Committee to immediately hold a hearing on Jeffrey Epstein's use of the U.S. financial system to perpetrate his heinous crimes. Her BADGES for Native Communities Act to support the Bureau of Indian Affairs with law enforcement recruitment and retention passed the Senate last year. Cortez Masto also introduced the Invest to Protect Act, bipartisan legislation to increase grant funding for small law enforcement agencies in Nevada and across the country.

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