FBI steps back from immigration agent assault probes, sources say
Multiple sources told CBS News the FBI is shifting alleged assault cases involving immigration agents to Homeland Security Investigations.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
The FBI is pulling out of investigations involving alleged assaults on immigration agents and handing those cases to Homeland Security Investigations, multiple sources familiar with the move told CBS News.
FBI field offices were told about the change on Thursday, the sources said. The New York Times first reported the shift.
HSI is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and both sit under the Department of Homeland Security. That means an ICE arm would be taking the lead on incidents involving immigration enforcement personnel, according to CBS News.
The FBI and ICE did not immediately respond to CBS News requests for comment.
Change follows deadly ICE shootings
The move comes after two fatal shootings by federal immigration officers earlier this month, according to CBS News.
On July 7, an ICE officer shot and killed a Mexican national in Houston who had lived in the United States for decades, CBS News reported. Days later, an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine.
The new approach also lands after earlier friction over how cases involving immigration enforcement actions have been investigated.
Earlier this year, the FBI sent additional resources to Minnesota to investigate alleged assaults on immigration officers during enforcement operations in Minneapolis, CBS News reported. Some of those cases were later dismissed after prosecutors reviewed the evidence.
The matter became a flash point after a fatal encounter between an ICE officer and Renee Good, according to CBS News. The Justice Department pressured the FBI and prosecutors to treat the investigation as an assault on a federal officer rather than as a civil rights investigation into her killing, CBS News reported. Several prosecutors and an FBI agent resigned after that pressure, according to the report.
HSI role has drawn scrutiny before
HSI has already faced questions over its role in another fatal shooting probe in Minneapolis.
When HSI was assigned to lead the federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in January, with FBI assistance, the decision raised concerns among current and former federal law enforcement officials, CBS News reported.
After those concerns were raised, the FBI and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division were ordered to take the lead in the Pretti investigation, according to CBS News. That probe remains ongoing.
CBS News reported that HSI is not usually assigned to investigate officer-involved shootings and is not built or equipped for several central parts of those cases. Those include ballistics analysis, forensic processing, firearm examinations, video review and broad witness canvassing.
The shift also comes as federal officials face renewed attention over oversight of immigration enforcement. In a CBS News video segment tied to the recent deadly ICE shootings, Trump border czar Tom Homan said body cameras are “the way to go.”
For now, the practical effect of the FBI’s change is stark: investigations into alleged assaults on immigration agents would be handled by HSI, the ICE branch housed inside the same department that oversees immigration enforcement.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.