ICE confrontations will no longer be investigated by FBI: NY Times
The badge of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were recently told that the FBI would no longer investigate allegations of assault against federal officers, according to a report by . New York Times.
On Thursday, FBI managers received written notification of the change, and some ICE agents across the country were notified by their FBI counterparts, sources told the Times.
In cases involving ICE agents in deadly shootings, the FBI under the Trump administration has been tasked with determining whether the agents were attacked before opening fire. However, evidence uncovered during these investigations may later be used in civil rights investigations or lawsuits against ICE agents.
The new guidance likely means that Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of ICE, will investigate allegations of such attacks by its own agents, according to the Times. Sources told the NYT that allowing DHS to conduct these investigations could lead to less accountability by immigration agents.
Because DHS has no authority to investigate civil rights violations, the policy change could make it less likely that ICE agents who shoot unarmed people will be investigated for violating federal law.
The Justice Department and DHS have denied that any change in oversight has occurred.
“The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security are partners in fighting crime and upholding the rule of law, while ensuring the safety and security of American communities,” DHS and DOJ said in a joint statement to CNBC.
“The relationship between DHS and DOJ regarding the investigation of attacks on federal officer cases has not changed, and the FBI will continue to investigate in accordance with agency policy.”
The alleged change in control came just days after an ICE agent shot and killed Colombian Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. This was at least the seventh person shot by ICE agents since January 2025 and the second this month after an agent shot and killed Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7.
