Democrats accuse Trump of cutting white-collar crime enforcement to advance his immigration crackdown
WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Elizabeth Warren and several Democratic lawmakers have accused Donald Trump of allowing white-collar criminals to evade accountability by diverting tens of thousands of federal law enforcement personnel away from financial crime investigations and toward immigration enforcement.
According to The Guardian, the lawmakers sent a letter to inspectors general across multiple federal agencies, calling for a formal investigation into the administration’s decision to reassign more than 25,000 personnel from areas such as fraud, tax evasion and money laundering to support Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Lawmakers demand probe
In the letter, the lawmakers expressed concerns over Trump's immigration enforcement operation and the diversion of federal to support them.
“The Trump Administration is letting white-collar criminals off the hook for all kinds of wrongdoing,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement.
“Instead of protecting American families from fraud and predatory behavior, the Administration is diverting resources to pursue its inhumane immigration agenda. “Nobody is above the law, and the Trump Administration needs to stop treating white collar criminals with kid gloves,” she added.
The letter, addressed to inspectors general at the Justice Department, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, US Postal Service and the Treasury Department’s tax division, alleges that the administration is “diverting critical federal law enforcement personnel and resources” from corporate crime investigations to what the lawmakers describe as Trump’s “civil immigration dragnet.”
Signed by Warren, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Representatives Dan Goldman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Madeleine Dean, the letter calls for a comprehensive review of how widespread the personnel transfers have been and their impact on the federal government’s ability to investigate financial crimes.
The lawmakers expressed deep concerns that entire investigative units have been “gutted” as agents are reassigned to bolster ICE operations.
Over 25,000 agents allegedly reassigned since January
According to the Democrats, more than 25,000 federal agents across multiple departments have been reassigned since January 2025.
Those transfers reportedly include specialists in financial fraud, sanctions enforcement, money laundering, cybercrime and public corruption.
The lawmakers warn that the shift has already stalled complex investigations and risks emboldening corporate criminals who may believe the federal government has effectively “stood down” on white-collar enforcement.
The most serious allegation centers on the FBI. The letter claims that nearly a quarter of FBI agents nationwide and up to 40% in major field offices have been diverted to support ICE operations.
Agents who once focused on public corruption, cyber-enabled fraud, and organized financial crime are now reportedly guarding detention facilities and conducting immigration checks, The Guardian reported.
IRS, FBI, DHS and Postal Service cited in letter
Other agencies have reportedly been affected as well. The Internal Revenue Service is said to have reassigned roughly 1,700 criminal-investigation staff, compared with just 250 last summer.
Diplomatic Security Service agents who typically handle international corruption and cross-border fraud cases have also been detailed to ICE operations, according to the letter.
Homeland Security Investigations- long regarded as the federal government’s hub for complex global fraud cases, by one estimate cited by the lawmakers, shifted as much as 90% of its workforce to immigration removal operations.
Even the US Postal Inspection Service, best known for investigating mail fraud, is reported to have reassigned officers to track down immigration targets.
Lawmakers also point to a sharp reduction in the Justice Department’s public integrity section, which prosecutes corruption among elected officials.
According to the letter, the unit has shrunk from 36 lawyers to just two, with others reassigned to a new “sanctuary cities enforcement” team.
Some staff allegedly complained they had so little work that they “completed jigsaw puzzles” to pass the time.
Pardons and broader enforcement concerns raised
The Democrats argue that the personnel shifts reflect a broader pattern under Trump’s second administration, accusing the White House of a “failure to enforce the law against corporate criminals.”
The letter also criticizes Trump’s use of presidential pardons, citing congressional analyses that estimate his clemency decisions have erased roughly $1.3 billion in fines and restitution owed to taxpayers and victims.
They warn that the combined effect has left Americans “more vulnerable to fraud schemes, market manipulation, predatory financial practices, and corruption.”
Blumenthal said the resource diversions “seriously threaten the security of American families and leave them vulnerable to predatory practices.”
“These staff and resource diversions exemplify this Administration’s reckless decision-making in service of Trump’s brutal, ruthless immigration enforcement agenda,” he said.
Goldman added that shifting 25,000 law enforcement personnel away from white-collar crime enables “fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and other crimes that hurt the American people.”
The lawmakers conclude by urging inspectors general to disclose how many personnel have been reassigned, how many white-collar cases have been opened, closed or suspended, and whether any whistleblower complaints have been filed.
