ICE Agents Told FBI Will Exit Investigations Into Public Confrontations

The directive specifically concerns allegations of assault against Department of Homeland Security officers. Under the new protocol, Homeland Security Investigations—a unit within ICE—would assume responsibility for examining incidents where an agent claims to have been attacked. Critics warn this creates a significant conflict of interest, as the unit lacks the jurisdiction to investigate potential civil rights violations or the legitimate use of force by its own members.

"The fox is guarding the hen house," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council. The policy shift arrives amid heightened scrutiny of ICE’s use of force, including the recent fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. While the Department of Justice and DHS issued a joint statement denying any change to investigative policy, prior data reveals a pattern of contested assault charges. A New York Times investigation found that during the Trump administration, nearly half of the 400 resolved cases involving alleged assaults on federal agents resulted in charges being withdrawn, dismissed, or ending in acquittal.