General Discussion

WASHINGTON — In mid-May, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, frustrated over what he saw as numbers of arrests and deportations of unauthorized immigrants that were too low, berated and threatened to fire senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials if they did not begin detaining 3,000 migrants a day, according to two sources who spoke to attendees.

Miller also threatened to fire leaders of field offices posting the bottom 10% of arrest numbers monthly, the two sources said.....

It is the latest example of how President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations is reshaping federal law enforcement as officials shift resources toward immigration-related cases — including nonviolent administrative offenses — leaving less time and attention for other types of criminal investigations.

The plan calls for using 3,000 ICE agents, including 1,800 from Homeland Security Investigations, which generally investigates transnational crimes and is not typically involved in arresting noncriminal immigrants; 2,000 Justice Department employees from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration; and 500 employees from Customs and Border Protection. It also includes 250 IRS agents, some of whom may be used to provide information on the whereabouts of immigrants using tax information, while others would have the authority to make arrests, according to the operation plan.

The Department of Homeland Security has also requested the use of 21,000 National Guard members to provide support in ICE operations, according to two additional sources familiar with the request, though that number has yet to be approved by the Defense Department or by governors who would be deploying their state’s units, multiple sources cautioned.Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, responding to the Miller meeting, said, “Keeping President Trump’s promise to deport illegal aliens is something the Administration takes seriously. We are committed to aggressively and efficiently removing illegal aliens from the United States, and ensuring our law enforcement officers have the resources necessary to do so. The safety of the American people depends upon it.”.....

Still, federal law enforcement officials who spoke to NBC News said the increased focus on cases with an immigration angle is pulling resources from other law enforcement priorities.

“There is such a priority on making immigration arrests that it takes longer to get answers on anything else. Something that used to be resolved in a matter of days now takes weeks,” a law enforcement official said.

The shift in resources affects not only the type of cases taken but also the type of personnel involved in immigration raids. The FBI is almost always the agency leading the charge in joint investigations, but it has traditionally avoided getting involved in enforcement operations that involve only immigration enforcement, current and former officials confirmed......

Meanwhile, it is unclear whether or when the shifting resources and reorganization will result in the Trump administration’s hitting its desired deportation numbers, like the 3,000-person daily quota Miller demanded in the mid-May meeting. ICE no longer posts comprehensive daily arrest statistics, but on social media, it has posted details of at least 350 arrests since May 26.