Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he has joined Senate colleagues to demand the Trump administration explain the impact of its 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 to Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “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 mid-investigation from cases involving child exploitation, drug trafficking, sanctions evasion, cyberattacks, domestic extremism, and foreign adversaries.
There have been reports of reassignments at agencies across the federal government, including nearly 25% of agents at the FBI and 80% of agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. These diversions are especially devastating at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – one of the primary agencies responsible for combatting child exploitation, human trafficking, fentanyl smuggling, and cartels. HSI personnel themselves 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 also called out the dangerous national security implications of the administration’s decision, including damage to cybersecurity 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.”
The senators requested the following documents and information no later than January 19, 2026:
- A full accounting of personnel diverted to immigration enforcement from all federal agencies since January 20, 2025, including numbers, assignment duration, and mission details;
- A list of all investigations paused, terminated, or reassigned as a result of, in whole or in part, these diversions, including those related to child exploitation, cyber intrusions, human trafficking, drug smuggling, domestic extremism, terrorism financing, and violent crime;
- Any threat, risk, or operational assessments informing the decision to divert personnel;
- All formal taskings or communications directing agencies to provide personnel for immigration enforcement surge operations;
- Any internal objections raised by agency leadership or career investigators regarding the diversions, and how these objections were addressed; and
- Any internal assessments completed to gauge the impacts of these diversions, including on investigations into child exploitation, human trafficking, cybercrime, counter narcotics, and national security investigations.
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. In addition to Wyden, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Gary Peters, D-Mich., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Chris Coons, D-Del., Angus King, I-Maine, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Peter Welch, D-Vt., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Andy Kim, D-N.J., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Mark Warner, D-Va., Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
The text of the letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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