Multiple current and former bureau officials told NBC News, multiple current and former bureau officials told NBC News, multiple current and former bureau officials told NBC News, multiple current and former bureau officials told NBC News.
According to a memo obtained by NBC News, the order was held this week in the FBI office a series of memos and meetings this week at the time the Trump administration proposed to cut 5% of the FBI budget, and the Justice Department is depriving investigations on certain types of white collars and corporate crimes.
FBI director Kash Patel also approved 667 requests for early retirement this week for FBI personnel, a new push is happening.
"As you know, we have been actively engaged in immigration enforcement," said a memo from senior FBI officials to managers. "From this week, we need to see an increase in operational pace in your immigration efforts. The Justice Department expects a significant increase in the number of agents involved in immigration enforcement operations."
A federal law enforcement official estimated that the vast majority of agents were uncomfortable being part of the immigration operation, saying the ICE did not plan the arrests as carefully as the bureau did.
"This is not what we are going to do, these are bad ideas," federal law enforcement officials said, speaking on anonymously, citing retaliation. “If it were a Democratic government, I would say it was awful and we shouldn’t have done that.”
FBI spokesman Ben Williamson defended the move. “The FBI has been committed to supporting our partners in immigration enforcement and will continue to do so.”
Reuters first reported on the enhanced immigration enforcement initiative.
According to two FBI officials, the shift in resources spans the country. In a major change, 45% of all agents in the 25 FBI field offices in the U.S. will engage in immigration full-time.
Officials said the bureau’s Atlanta field office will assign 67 agents to work full-time “law enforcement and evacuation operations” seven days a week. About half of all agents assigned to Atlanta's field office headquarters
In Los Angeles, the on-site office is creating nine squads to handle law enforcement and evacuation operations full-time. They will pursue non-citizens who have already passed visas, even if they have no criminal history.
FBI's Boston Field Office has been ordered to assign another 33 agents to immigrant law enforcement
The FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The orders exacerbate the unprecedented push for the Trump Justice Department, bringing the FBI into engagement with immigration enforcement, a task traditionally handled by the Department of Homeland Security.
One of the memos said the goal is to have 2,000 FBI agents working in immigration enforcement at one time across the country.
Given that the FBI's resources are limited, current and former officials say a significant increase in immigration enforcement will keep agents away from FBI's priorities, including counter-terrorism, counter-temporary, fraud, fraud and violent crime.
Trump and his top aides are frustrated by the slow deportation. Documents released by the Biden administration show that thousands of illegal immigrants with criminal records live in the United States, including more than 10,000 homicides. According to NBC News, many of them are still here.
The head of the Justice Department’s criminal department issued a memorandum this week ordering a new “appropriate balance” in the execution of corporate crimes.
"Paved and unchecked companies and white-collar law enforcement burdens American businesses and harms American interests," wrote Matthew Galeotti, head of the criminal department.
The memorandum ordered prosecutors to prioritize fraudulent Americans, tariff fugitives, sanctions violations, Chinese money launderers and foreign terrorist financiers.
However, it attempts to exploit a major Biden Justice Department initiative to target companies for crimes and begin monitoring the brakes of companies found to have violated the law.
Galiotti ordered prosecutors to “review the terms and duration of all existing agreements with the company to determine whether they should be terminated as soon as possible.”
"The work of Criminal Division attorneys to investigate and prosecute white-collar crimes is crucial for the department's efforts to promote U.S. interests, protect victims and strengthen our national security," the memo said.
“However, federal investigations of corporate misconduct can be expensive and intrusive for businesses, investors and other stakeholders, many of whom are unaware of or involved in controversial misconduct,” Galiotti wrote. “Federal investigations can also significantly disrupt day-to-day business operations and cause sometimes unnecessary reputational hazards.”