FBI shifts immigration agent cases to HSI after recent fatal shootings, sources say

The FBI will cease investigating cases involving alleged assaults on immigration agents, deferring these investigations to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), according to multiple sources. Field offices were reportedly informed of this change on Thursday.

This significant shift means HSI, an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Department of Homeland Security, will effectively be investigating incidents involving its own agents. The change was first reported by The New York Times. Neither the FBI nor ICE immediately responded to requests for comment.

The decision comes in the wake of fatal shootings by federal immigration officers earlier this month. On July 7, an ICE officer fatally shot a Mexican national in Houston. Days later, another ICE officer killed a Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine.

Earlier this year, the FBI increased resources in Minnesota to investigate alleged assaults on immigration officers during enforcement operations. However, some of those cases were later dismissed after prosecutors reviewed the evidence. The issue gained prominence after a fatal encounter involving an ICE officer and Renee Good, which led to Justice Department pressure on the FBI and prosecutors to treat the investigation as an assault on a federal officer rather than a civil rights inquiry into her killing. This reportedly prompted resignations from several prosecutors and an FBI agent.

When HSI was initially tasked with leading the federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, with FBI assistance, the decision raised questions among current and former federal law enforcement officials. Concerns were subsequently raised, leading to orders for the FBI and the Civil Rights Division to take the lead on that probe, which remains ongoing. HSI is not typically structured or equipped to handle core elements of officer-involved shooting investigations, such as ballistics analysis, forensic processing, firearm examinations, video review, and large-scale witness canvassing.