DHS requests to deputize IRS agents to help with deportations
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C. in Dec. 2024. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Trump administration has asked the Department of Treasury to deputize Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents to help with deporting undocumented immigrants, multiple outlets reported.
The big picture: President Trump unleashed sweeping limits on immigration and asylum upon taking office last month, and the administration has since stepped up efforts to target undocumented immigrants across the U.S.
Driving the news: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, dated Feb. 7, that the IRS' criminal investigation division is needed to assist with apprehension and removals of undocumented immigrants.
- "It is DHS's understanding that the Department of the Treasury has qualified law enforcement personnel available to assist with immigration enforcement, especially in light of recent increases to the Internal Revenue Service's work force and budget," the memo, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, states.
- Noem highlighted the current needs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including investigating human smuggling and trafficking rings, seizing assets "tied to immigration-related offenses," and the apprehension, monitoring, detention and removal of undocumented immigrants.
- "This letter requests that you make qualified officials from the Department of the Treasury available to work with ICE and that you consent to those officials being deputized to perform immigration functions," it says in part.
Zoom in: The IRS' criminal-investigation division (IRS-CI) is a group of over 2,100 special agents who investigate tax law violations and other financial crimes.
- They are the only IRS employees authorized to carry firearms while working and allowed to make arrests under federal law as well as execute search warrants.
Zoom out: Trump has vowed to deport "millions" of undocumented immigrants, and his administration has sought to double the immigration system's detention capacity.
- ICE agents have been arresting a "significant number" of immigrants and are looking to Congress for more resources, including funding expanded partnerships with local law enforcement, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, told Axios last week.
Homeland Security and the Treasury did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Go deeper: Trump's ICE frees hundreds of immigrants under "catch and release"
