A newly uncovered memo from the Department of Homeland Security reportedly reveals that President Donald Trump is diverting manpower from securing U.S. borders and ports to help him achieve his goals of mass deportation.
HuffPost reported on Tuesday that the memo shows that roughly 2,000 officers and agents have been diverted to provide more manpower for deportation operations. By doing so, the administration makes it easier for traffickers to smuggle illicit materials, such as fentanyl, through ports of entry.
Gil Kerlikowske, who headed up U.S. Customs and Border Protection under former President Barack Obama, told the outlet, “The ports of entry―that’s where the fentanyl comes in.” He added, “If you’ve taken 800 agents off of the ports of entry, that can cause a significant problem.”
Data from 2018 to 2024 showed that most of those apprehended for smuggling fentanyl into the U.S. did so through lawful ports of entry. About 4 in 5 apprehended smugglers through the U.S.-Mexico border were U.S. citizens as well. This stands in contrast to Republican leaders who have blamed this problem on migrants.
Trump repeatedly campaigned on the promise that he would crack down on fentanyl trafficking, but drug overdose deaths have been steadily falling since late 2023, when Joe Biden was president.
Another problem with diverting resources from port operations is that those officers are generally not trained to handle immigration enforcement. Agencies like ICE have generated a torrent of headlines involving abuse and manhandling of both migrants and citizens, including children—and many of those incidents involve officials whose primary job is enforcement.
The Trump administration has set up a system ripe for abuse. It has used deportation procedures to send migrants to facilities like El Salvador’s brutal CECOT prison. Detainees at those facilities have revealed scenes they compared to a “horror movie,” including repeated beatings and denial of basic medical treatment.
The memo reportedly reveals another dysfunctional link in the immigration system being put in place under the Trump administration, one which could easily lead to more crime and increased danger for Americans and their families.