The Trump administration has done a tremendous job of staffing its brutal crackdown on immigrants. But it turns out that reassigning everyone to that effort means that the Department of Homeland Security is giving short shrift to fighting actual crime. But hey, at least the government is keeping us safe from tamale vendors and day laborers, right?
The New York Times obtained an internal report from Homeland Security Investigations, the division of DHS that is supposed to be focused on conducting federal criminal investigations. Here’s HSI itself explaining its mission:
HSI conducts federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States. HSI’s investigations are wide ranging – our cases include drug and weapons smuggling, cyber and financial crime, illegal technology exports and intellectual property crime. We also play a crucial role in investigating crimes of exploitation. This includes combating child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud and scams and other crimes against vulnerable populations.
All those things sound like things you would like your federal government to protect you from! Too bad they are busy doing other things.
The HSI report showed that, when comparing the period from Oct. 1, 2024-Sept. 30, 2025, to the same time in the previous year, narcotics arrests have fallen by 11%. Oh, and also, HSI agents have opened 15% fewer new narcotics investigations.
Okay, so we’re more awash in drugs than before, thanks to 90% of HSI staff—over 6,000 agents—being reassigned to ICE. But that’s not all. We’re also more awash in guns, with weapons seizures dropping from 41,400 to 11,200. If you’re doing the math at home, that’s a staggering 73% decrease.
This report follows last week’s New York Times story about how the monomaniacal focus on harming immigrants has pulled thousands of federal agents from their regular duties investigating child exploitation, sexual crimes against children, human trafficking, and terrorism. When comparing February through April 2025 to averages from previous years, HIS personnel worked roughly 33% fewer hours investigating child exploitation cases.
The administration’s spin on this is genuinely unhinged. Per DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, by focusing only on immigration, they are actually fighting every other type of crime:
Child exploitation, human trafficking, terrorism, financial scams and smuggling all have a nexus to illegal immigration. DHS is mobilizing federal and state law enforcement to find, arrest and deport illegal aliens. We are prioritizing the worst of the worst and aliens with final removal orders. Nearly every day we are arresting pedophiles, known or suspected terrorists, kidnappers, child smugglers and sex traffickers, including those who entered our country illegally.
Come on, are we really still doing the “worst of the worst” thing? The largest percentage of people languishing in ICE facilities have no criminal record at all. For those with criminal records, the most common criminal charges are immigration violations and traffic offenses. Thank god we are being kept safe from immigrants who failed to signal a right turn or something equally malevolent.
The administration’s fixation on fighting fentanyl suppliers has also had stupid consequences. Trump can brag about disrupting Mexico’s biggest fentanyl trafficker, the Sinaloa Cartel, but all that did was clear the way for a cocaine kingpin to consolidate power. Well, at least cocaine is mad cheap now! Crazy that bombing random boats has not somehow magically saved us all from illicit drugs.
Meanwhile, ICE is busy arresting tamale vendors and shooting pastors in the head with pepper balls, which also somehow has not magically saved us from anything. Instead, we’re facing more drugs, more guns, and more crimes against children. Great job, everyone.
Lisa Needham November 26, 2025 at 12:30AM From Daily Kos
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