The Federal Bureau of Investigation will no longer participate in investigations into alleged assaults on immigration agents, deferring such cases to Homeland Security Investigations, according to a written notice sent to FBI field offices on July 16. The policy shift, first reported by The New York Times, arrives amid heightened scrutiny of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
ICE officers have been involved in at least seven fatal shootings since January 2025. On July 7, an officer shot and killed Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. Six days later, Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was killed by an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine. The officer in the Maine shooting, David Brouillette, has documented mental health issues and prior domestic violence allegations.
The policy change follows internal turmoil at the Justice Department, which pressured the FBI and prosecutors to treat the killing of Renee Good as an assault on a federal officer, prompting resignations.