An “outraged” Border Patrol official leaked a “dizzying” trove of “secret programs” being carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, journalist Ken Klippenstein exclusively reported Wednesday, programs that include the deployment of 2,000 “intelligence assets” across the nation and covert attempts to blend in with detained inmates.
The Border Patrol official spoke with Klippenstein on the condition of anonymity, and said they felt compelled to reveal the secret programs due to their frustration with the “absurd amounts of secrecy surrounding the operations, and the utter failure of Congress to make many of them public,” Klippenstein wrote.
Specifically, the official shared with Klippenstein a 15-page document that detailed 21 “major” ICE operations, such as “Operation Benchwarmer,” the aforementioned program that apparently saw the deployment of 2,000 intelligence assets.
“Operation Benchwarmer: Plainclothes agents have been embedded in transport vans, sally ports, processing areas, and detention cells to gather important tactical intelligence and or information,” reads the leaked document, which notes the operation began on April 18, 2025, and is still ongoing.
“Focused on collecting information not normally gained during formal interviews. Operation Benchwarmer has deployed over 2,000 intelligence assets, resulting in more than 2,000 subject contacts, 492 prosecutorial leads, and the identification of 135 stash houses.”
Another operation revealed in the document is “Operation Abracadabra,” one apparently designed to make use of every detained undocumented migrant.
“Operation Abracadabra was initiated with the requirement of interviewing 100% of the individuals apprehended to gather intelligence and identify follow-on targets such as stash houses and individuals conducting illegal activity,” the document reads.
“Tying every individual who crosses the border illegally to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a Transnational Criminal Organization, and/or utilizing the intelligence to develop targets. Intelligence gathered from subjects in custody is being successfully utilized and acted upon. These efforts are being tracked in e3 and data integrity is critical.”