The Trump administration wants more federal agents to be armed with the power to carry out deportations as part of the president’s long-held promise of making immigration a central part of his second-term agenda, according to a memo reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
That includes giving agents across government agencies – including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service – the authority equal to that of an immigration officer, the Journal reported.
The directive came in the form of an internal memo sent by Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman, and is the latest shift in the government’s stance on immigration the Trump administration has taken this week.
“Though the memo doesn’t directly deputize those agents to assist with President Trump’s promised deportation campaign, administration officials are planning for the Justice Department to cooperate by lending some agents, a person familiar with the matter said,” according to the Journal.
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The ATF and DEA have traditionally stayed out of immigration enforcement efforts, the publication noted, “except where there are other gun or drug-trafficking violations.”
“Officials in these agencies have long complained that they are already strapped for resources they need for their core missions of fighting violent crime and drug enforcement, and policing immigration violations would add more to their plates,” the Journal added.
On Tuesday, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove gave federal prosecutors across the country the green light to investigate local officials for obstructing immigration enforcement efforts.
That followed an announcement Wednesday from the Pentagon which said it would send 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border, according to media reports.
