A coalition of Democratic senators has launched a scathing attack on the Trump administration, accusing it of abandoning critical investigations into child exploitation, human trafficking, and drug cartels to prioritise a massive expansion of immigration enforcement.
‘Stunning Abdication’ of Duty Alleged
In an exclusive letter shared with the Guardian, Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona and 28 other Democratic senators, plus one independent, demanded a full accounting from the White House. They allege that the redeployment of thousands of federal agents to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) represents a ‘stunning abdication of the basic responsibilities’ of government.
The letter, sent to President Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday, cites internal data suggesting a sweeping reallocation of law enforcement resources. It references an August 2025 ICE document, published by the Cato Institute thinktank, which indicates more than 28,000 personnel from various federal agencies have been diverted to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Wide-Ranging Impact on Criminal Investigations
The senators contend this shift has directly hampered a host of other law-enforcement priorities. They point to a New York Times investigation from November which found resources have been pulled from probes into sexual crimes against children, a terrorism-financing black market, and efforts to combat human smuggling and sex trafficking.
‘An agent arresting primarily non-violent immigrants necessarily means one less agent available to catch child predators and drug traffickers,’ the letter states.
The reassignments have reportedly affected a vast array of agencies, including:
- The FBI and the US Marshals Service
- The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
- The Secret Service and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
According to the letter, the impact on Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)—the DHS branch tasked with fighting child exploitation and criminal organisations—has been ‘especially devastating.’ Entire HSI units are said to have been reassigned to immigration work, with tech company engineers reporting a noticeable drop in federal follow-up on child safety reports.
Contradictory Data and White House Pushback
The White House strongly rejected the characterisation. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson, in an email to the Guardian, accused Senator Gallego of pandering to a radical base and called the claims ‘selective, incomplete, and badly out of step with the actual data.’
Jackson asserted that fiscal year 2025 was a record year for HSI criminal enforcement, with over 46,000 criminal arrests—the most in the agency’s history. She said the Trump administration was successfully combating crime, with narcotic seizures and human smuggling arrests up significantly.
However, the New York Times analysis of the same HSI data noted that while civil immigration arrests soared, narcotics arrests fell by roughly 11%, new narcotics investigations opened declined by 15%, and weapons seizures plummeted by 73%. Jackson declined to comment on these specific declines, accusing the paper of cherry-picking data.
The reassignments coincide with ICE’s major recruitment drive, announcing over 12,000 new hires in the past year. Meanwhile, ICE detention numbers hit a record high in December, with more than 68,400 people in custody—the largest group now being immigrants with no criminal record.
The Democratic senators have given the administration until 19 January to disclose the threat assessments behind the reassignments, all related communications, and any internal objections raised by agency leaders.
