Krishnamoorthi, Moulton, and Ansari Lead Colleagues Demanding Answers on Diversion of Counterterrorism Resources to Immigration Enforcement

WASHINGTON - Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Seth Moulton (D-MA), along with Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), on Monday led Representatives Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX), André Carson (D-IN), Jason Crow (D-CO), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in sending a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche regarding reports that the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ) are diverting personnel, funding, and operational focus away from counterterrorism, transnational crime, anti-corruption, and other core public safety missions in favor of large-scale civil immigration enforcement. The letter raises serious questions about whether Congress's appropriations are being used to carry out the Departments' core statutory responsibilities.

The lawmakers write:

"We are writing to express our grave concerns regarding public reports of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) diverting critical personnel, resources, and operational focus away from core national security and public safety missions such as counterterrorism, transnational crime, and anti-corruption efforts in favor of large-scale civil immigration enforcement. This redirection raises serious questions about whether resources appropriated by Congress are being used to carry out the Departments' core statutory mandates."

The lawmakers further write:

"There is substantial evidence that significant DOJ resources have been diverted from criminal cases in pursuit of civil immigration cases. Recent reporting brought to light the scale of this shift at DOJ. The Department has declined to pursue more than 23,000 criminal cases in the first six months of the second Trump Administration. According to analysis, these cases included 1,300 terrorism-related cases, nearly 5,000 drug cases, and over a thousand white-collar and public corruption cases. At the same time, DOJ has significantly increased immigration prosecutions, bringing over 32,000 new immigration cases in that same six-month period, nearly triple the number under the Biden Administration."

The lawmakers requested responses to the following questions by August 10, 2026:

• What analysis or decision-making process was used to justify reallocating personnel, funding, and prosecutorial capacity from core law enforcement and national security missions to civil immigration enforcement?
  • Please provide updated information on the current number of HSI, CBP, and USCIS personnel who have been diverted to assist with immigration enforcement.
  • Please provide updated information on the current number of U.S. Marshals, FBI, DEA, and ATF agents who have been diverted to assist with immigration enforcement.
  • Please provide the number of cases declined in each month since the last month of available data (July 2025) listed by relevant categories (terrorism-related, national security, drug cases, and white-collar and public corruption cases).
  • Please provide the number of requests for judicial security-including courthouse security, judicial protective details, threat investigations, and prisoner transport-that have been delayed, reduced, or declined due to personnel or capacity constraints in the past year.
• How are DHS and DOJ ensuring that core mission areas, including counterterrorism, transnational crime, narcotics enforcement, public corruption, addressing gun violence, and civil rights enforcement, are being fully executed while resources are being redirected to immigration enforcement?
• What steps are being taken to ensure that these reallocations do not degrade mission readiness in counterterrorism, transnational crime, and other critical enforcement areas?
• What steps, if any, are being taken to restore personnel and resources to core mission areas affected by these reallocations, and what is the timeline for doing so?

The full text of the letter is available here.