The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced its intention to provide comprehensive operational support to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in immigration enforcement efforts.
According to Just the News, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the bureau's commitment to "full operational support" for ICE, which includes embedding FBI agents directly in ICE’s arrest missions. This marks a significant shift from occasional cooperation to institutional collaboration, involving shared task forces, intelligence pipelines, and forensic support—a first in the agency’s history. Patel said that this adjustment aims to address criminal networks, foreign-intelligence threats, and the fentanyl crisis linked to illegal immigration channels.
An internal FBI reallocation report reviewed by Just the News indicates that approximately 5,448 agents and analysts have already been redirected—either full- or part-time—to support ICE missions as of May 2025. Patel's office emphasized that this deployment focuses on combating cartel trafficking, human smuggling, and violent gangs exploiting porous borders. This operational shift underscores a policy pivot treating illegal immigration enforcement as a core component of national security crime-fighting.
Multiple legal provisions empower this new role: under 8 U.S.C. § 1103(a)(4) & (6), Homeland Security can delegate immigration arrest authority to Department of Justice agencies like the FBI; Executive Order 14159 (January 2025) instructs federal agencies to assist ICE; and 28 U.S.C. § 533 grants the FBI broad prosecutorial authority over national crimes, including those tied to transnational criminal operations. According to the Federal Register and Congressional Research Service analysis, Patel’s position harmonizes statutory authority and executive direction with institutional practice for the first time.
