Under the guise of “enhanced immigration enforcement efforts,” Donald Trump and Pam Bondi continue to weaken the Department’s national security and public safety capabilities by reallocating vital resources, reassigning career officials, and purging longtime civil servants
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi on her reallocation of resources from mission-critical Department of Justice (DOJ) projects to purported “immigration enforcement initiatives.”
The Justice Department recently issued a directive to take legal action against so-called “sanctuary cities,” demanded an increase in immigration-related prosecutions, and reallocated resources away from critical national security and public safety efforts. The Senators request that Attorney General Bondi rescind this memo.
The Senators begin by summarizing how the directive undermines our country’s national security and public safety capabilities, writing: “We are alarmed at recent changes within the Department of Justice (DOJ) that have significantly destabilized the agency and made America less safe. The shortsighted removal or reassignment of senior career DOJ and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials with national security expertise have diminished the country’s ability to respond to national security or public safety threats. We ask that you rescind the January 21, 2025, Memorandum and reverse any personnel decisions that diverted resources away from the Department’s critical national security and public safety missions.”
The Senators then criticize the January 21, 2025, memo’s broad directive to divert resources away from vital law enforcement activities to vague immigration enforcement efforts, writing: “We are deeply disturbed that the Department is redirecting resources from the prosecution of violent crimes to the pursuit of dubious claims against so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions. Multiple studies have shown that localities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement do not have higher crime rates. Reassigning law enforcement officers to ill-defined immigration-focused initiatives, for which they have no expertise, and instructing prosecutors to investigate and potentially pursue charges against sanctuary jurisdictions will not successfully target those who pose an actual threat to public safety. These reassignments drain law enforcement resources from critical missions and create an experience and leadership vacuum in our national security, counterintelligence, and public safety apparatus.”
The brain drain of the Department’s senior expertise is so severe that all the career officials who attended the daily threats session for years have been removed from their positions, per public reporting. A large number of officials have been reassigned to a newly created “Sanctuary City Enforcement Working Group,” despite the attorneys having no experience in immigration law and the group having no enforcement or litigation authority, which led to forced multiple resignations by veteran attorneys.
Other reported efforts underway reallocate valuable government resources from critical missions to immigration enforcement matters, including from efforts to fight transnational-organized crime, violent crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism.
The Senators then outline the disruption caused by the resource reallocation, writing: “The sweeping changes to personnel assignments and resource allocation across DOJ will lead to widespread disruption and delay in prosecutions, investigations, and sensitive operations… It is irresponsible and dangerous to divert DOJ and FBI law enforcement officials from their primary missions and areas of expertise to bolster the Trump Administration’s mass deportation effort.”
The Senators conclude with a request to rescind the January 21, 2025, memo, before making a series of information requests with a deadline of March 17, 2025, writing: “DOJ’s extensive focus on immigration enforcement, to the detriment of other vital national security and public safety priorities, intentionally diverts the Department’s resources and will fail to actually move the needle on immigration enforcement. Personnel at DOJ, the FBI, and other component agencies are now limited in their ability to combat threats to public safety and national security, and a dedicated and talented workforce is facing a crisis of morale. To that end, we ask that you rescind the January 21, 2025, Memorandum and reverse any personnel decisions that diverted resources away from critical national security and public safety missions.”
In addition to Durbin, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Alex Padilla (D-CA).
For a PDF copy of the letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi, click here.
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