In the Trump administration, nearly every major department is an immigration agency
Source: AP
Updated 2:17 PM EST, February 20, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — Drug Enforcement Administration agents touting immigration arrests, IRS agents poring over documents, the military escorting deportation flights. As the Trump administration works on the president’s pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and carry out mass deportations, the flurry of activity has stretched across the federal government — well beyond the Department of Homeland Security, the traditional home to most immigration and border security functions.
President Donald Trump’s sweeping promises have translated into a whole-of-government approach for immigration enforcement. In other words, nearly every major Cabinet agency is an immigration agency in Trump’s government.
The departments of State, Defense and Justice have made immigration a clear priority in their work and public messaging. Parts of the departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services have been involved. And the reach and focus on immigration are only expected to grow, with the Republican president late Wednesday signing an executive order aimed at ending federal benefits for people in the U.S. illegally.
“The breadth of what is happening in these first couple of weeks is much wider than we saw during the first Trump administration,” said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute.
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