Federal Agents Shift Focus from Child Exploitation to Immigration Control

U.S. government agencies historically tasked with combating child exploitation are now directed towards targeting unauthorized immigrants. Specialized investigators from Homeland Security who are typically engaged in unraveling money laundering schemes, are taking charge of raiding various small businesses such as restaurants, in search of workers not legally allowed to work in the country.

The purview of agents previously focused on handling drug trafficking issues and tax fraud now also includes implementing immigration laws. These reshuffling efforts come as President Donald Trump commits to the removal of a vast number of ‘criminal aliens’. As a consequence of this directive, many law enforcement officers across different federal agencies are embracing new assignments related to immigration, leading to a detraction of resources from tackling issues such as drug trafficking, terrorism, sexual misuse, and fraud.

Such a focused pivot of federal resources towards immigration enforcement is something unique and unprecedented, causing other important tasks to be left in the wake. When federal agencies are instructed to cease current operations to focus on new objectives, the previously prioritized activities are inevitably put on hold.

The Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, upon queried, stated that there is a mobilization effort underway within federal and state law enforcement systems to locate, apprehend, and remove unauthorized occupants of the country. Almost instantly after this came into effect, law enforcement individuals began sharing images on social media showing in-progress crackdowns; agents reside in body armor, their jackets emblazoned with the logos of various agencies involved, all conducting raids on unauthorized immigrants.

Before this significant shift in policy, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had a minimal role in immigration enforcement. The department, till late, has been primarily involved with investigating illegal firearms activities, bomb threats, illicit exchanges of alcohol and tobacco, and arson cases.

However, since the shift at the beginning of this year, the ATF has seen a noticeable change. Around 80% of its approximately 2,500 agents have now been instructed to undertake at least some tasks involving immigration enforcement, adding a new dimension to their usual responsibilities.

The outcomes of this transition in focus of the federal law enforcement agencies thus far have been unclear. The count of immigrants attempting to cross the southern border of the U.S. in February reached its lowest level in many years, while there has been a notable rise in the number of individuals detained due to immigration offenses.

While these actions have not yet resulted in a surge of deportations, there is an expert consensus that there will likely be a significant rise in the number of illegal aliens sent back to their home countries in the upcoming months.

The macroscopic effort to tackle immigration by federal agencies draws substantial resources away from other important areas of law enforcement, causing a shift in balance. Before this policy shift in January, the responsibility of dealing with unauthorized immigrants was majorly concentrated within only two agencies: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Customs and Border Protection, employing a staff total of 80,000 individuals.

The remaining departments traditionally had scant to do with deportations. This juxtaposition becomes apparent when comparing the focus of agencies before and after the shift, painting a clear picture of how resource allocation within federal law enforcement has changed within a relatively short span.