Internal DHS memo reveals Trump administration diverted nearly 2,000 CBP officers and agents from U.S. ports and borders to support ICE immigration raids, raising concerns about border security and the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. This significant shift in personnel weakens border protection efforts, impacting counter-terrorism and drug interdiction, including the fight against fentanyl smuggling
Trump Administration Shifts Border Security Resources to Boost Deportations, Raising Concerns. A leaked internal memo reveals the White House has diverted over 2,000 CBP officers and agents from border security and counter-terrorism efforts to support increased interior immigration enforcement, potentially compromising national security by reducing manpower dedicated to combating drug trafficking and terrorism at ports of entry
The extra bodies have come from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. CBP includes the U.S. Border Patrol and is a separate entity from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency leading President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
As of late June, CBP was lending out more than 1,100 of its 19,000 border patrol agents and more than 800 of its 26,000 port officers to ICE, according to the document.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, typically focused on counterterrorism, transnational crime, border security, and facilitating legal travel and trade, are now significantly involved in President Trump's mass deportation initiative. This unprecedented deployment diverts resources from core CBP responsibilities, raising concerns about potential vulnerabilities at U.S. ports of entry. The large-scale reassignment of over 1,900 CBP officers and agents to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations represents a major shift in agency priorities
Former CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske warns that the Trump administration's redirection of 2,000+ officers and agents from border security to support interior immigration enforcement weakens national security. This diversion of resources, including over 800 port officers, raises concerns about increased vulnerability to drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl, at ports of entry – a key concern cited by President Trump himself. This shift undermines CBP's core mission of combating terrorism and transnational crime, jeopardizing border security and potentially exacerbating the opioid crisis
Reduced CBP staffing at ports of entry, diverting 800 agents to support ICE immigration raids, raises serious concerns about increased fentanyl smuggling and border security vulnerabilities. This personnel shift undermines efforts to combat drug trafficking and poses a significant national security risk
Concerns rise over the redeployment of 2,000+ Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from U.S. ports and borders to support domestic immigration raids. This shift, impacting both Border Patrol agents and port officers, raises fears of increased vulnerability to terrorism and drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl smuggling. The controversial move highlights the potential risks of diverting resources from crucial border security to interior enforcement, as evidenced by incidents like the MacArthur Park incident, where armed agents prompted children to flee
Trump Administration Shifts Border Security Personnel to Boost Deportations, Raising Terrorism and Drug Trafficking Concerns. A leaked internal memo reveals the White House diverted over 2,000 officers and agents from crucial counter-terrorism and drug trafficking duties at ports of entry to support increased interior immigration enforcement, potentially compromising national security. This personnel shift prioritizes deportation numbers, even at the risk of weakening border security against threats like fentanyl smuggling
“Their experience and training and expertise is on the border,” Kerlikowske said of border patrol agents. “Not policing and patrolling an urban area.”
Nearly 300 people from the border patrol’s special operations group were being deployed to support ICE operations, including “fugitive apprehensions, surveillance, operational planning, entry tactics and task force participation,” according to the document.
Most of the CBP personnel were being used in local ICE operations in Miami, New Orleans, Boston, Nashville, San Antonio, Houston, Seattle and other cities around the country. Nearly 200 were enlisted in what the document refers to as “Operation Los Angeles,” the series of immigration raids that set off mass protests in California last month.
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Another 600 had been lent out for “Operation At Large,” the nationwide ICE plan to round up undocumented immigrants.
The agency was also providing 32 aircraft and 118 pilots and agents from its air-and-marine unit, which is responsible for interdicting drugs, weapons and other illicit cargo along the borders. Those personnel have been helping to move detainees from one facility to another as they await deportation. The unit only has around 1,800 agents and support staff.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The Trump administration hopes to hire 10,000 more ICE agents over the next five years, but it could continue to siphon staff from the ports and borders due to the time it takes to hire.
The Republican-controlled Congress recently pumped billions of dollars of new funding into immigration enforcement, including it as part of their tax reform package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The legislation steers $45 billion toward immigration detention facilities and another $30 billion toward ICE enforcement.
But historically, it has taken about half a year to hire an officer to work on deportations. Even if the administration can cut that time down significantly, it still takes months to get new officers trained and onboarded.
In the meantime, Trump aides are eager to show the president they are doing whatever they can to further his deportation campaign. The CBP document boasts of the way the agency has diverted agents and officers away from their normal jobs so they can help with raids and detentions.
“The ports of entry – that’s where the fentanyl comes in. If you’ve taken 800 agents off of the ports of entry, that can cause a significant problem.”
The U.S. Border Patrol “has expended great resources and manpower to assist ICE to accomplish the presidential mandates that have been set,” the document states.
It notes that the loaner program has involved 25 field offices and come at a cost of $20 million as of late June.
Although immigration raids are most commonly associated with ICE, customs and border personnel have become a common sight at roundups in California and elsewhere. Masked border patrol agents were just seen making arrests in a Home Depot parking lot in Sacramento on Thursday, according to local news reports.
The administration has tried to hype the criminal backgrounds of those it’s arresting and deporting, but most appear to only have infractions for traffic or immigration offenses on their records. The clampdown on undocumented workers is growing increasingly unpopular among voters, according to surveys.
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In a recent CNN poll, 55% of respondents said Trump had gone too far with his deportation campaign, 10 points higher than in February.
Kerlikowske predicted that the negative polling and any economic hit due to deportations could prompt the administration to pull back on its raids and shift resources back toward the ports and borders.
“You can probably guess that if they get some numbers they deem sufficient by the end of the year, this is all going to fade off,” he said.
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