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Concerns Rise Over Immigration Enforcement Prioritization in Justice Department
Democratic leaders in the House are raising alarms regarding the Trump administration’s recent shift in focus for Justice Department personnel towards immigration enforcement. They suggest that this move may hamper essential efforts related to other national security matters.
Leading this concern, Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., along with subcommittee ranking members Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Lucy McBath, D-Ga., penned a letter to acting Attorney General James R. McHenry III, requesting detailed information by February 17 on the personnel being reassigned.
In their letter, the lawmakers expressed dismay, stating, “This administration has made it clear that it sees all immigrants as criminals and priorities for removal, making no distinction between an undocumented mother with no criminal record and a convicted murderer.” They highlighted that the dedicated personnel at the DOJ engage in critical roles targeting severe illegal activities such as narcotics trafficking, violent crimes, and terrorism. They warned that reallocating resources could compromise safety, allowing criminals to operate freely and potentially increasing risks associated with drug trafficking and terrorism.
On January 21, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who has previously served as a defense attorney for former President Donald Trump, released a memo directing the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) to focus their efforts on immigration-related prosecutions. The memo specifically instructs OCDETF-funded federal prosecutors to devote “significant time and attention” to immigration offenses.
OCDETF serves as an independent entity within the DOJ, leading complex investigations into international organized crime, money laundering, and major drug trafficking operations. Meanwhile, PSN is a collaborative initiative involving federal, state, and local authorities aimed at addressing community-related violent crime issues identified through localized assessments.
The DOJ memo further mandates that FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement Trump’s immigration-related strategies.
Bove justified these directives by citing the need to combat violence connected to drug cartels and the surging fentanyl crisis.
Additionally, acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman on January 23 signed a directive empowering DOJ law enforcement officers from specific agencies to investigate and detain undocumented immigrants, asserting that this authority is crucial for executing Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
The agencies involved include the U.S. Marshals, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
This letter from Democrats coincided with the Senate’s confirmation of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to serve as President Trump’s attorney general, which passed with a narrow 54-46 vote along party lines.
While the Trump administration has emphasized its commitment to detaining undocumented immigrants and has begun relocating certain “high-threat” individuals to Guantanamo Bay, limited detention facilities have posed challenges to enforcement activities. Reports indicate that about 460 migrants were released from custody even as the administration has criticized similar practices.
In a notable increase, the Biden administration reported deporting nearly 271,500 individuals in fiscal 2024, marking a ten-year high in deportation figures.
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