FBI Reportedly Halts Investigations Into ICE Assaults, Leaving Agency to Police Itself

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Federal Bureau of Investigation will no longer investigate confrontations involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to a report from The New York Times — a policy shift that critics say effectively leaves ICE to police itself and all but eliminates accountability for agent misconduct.

The FBI has reportedly told agents it will stop investigating assault cases involving ICE officers. (Image: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 2.0)

FBI Steps Back From ICE Assault Investigations

According to The New York Times, federal agents have been informed that the FBI will no longer investigate incidents where ICE agents are accused of assault or excessive force. The change would shift responsibility for investigating such cases to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an internal enforcement arm of ICE itself.

Both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice denied the reported policy change to The Times, but multiple sources within federal law enforcement confirmed the new guidance is already being communicated to agents in the field.

A Pattern of Violence

The reported change follows a period of intense scrutiny over violence by ICE agents, who have killed two civilians in the span of the last two weeks. The shootings in Maine and Texas were the latest in a string of civilian deaths at the hands of immigration enforcement agents, who have also been accused of attempting to intimidate witnesses following the recent high-profile killings.

A System Designed to Fail?

Under the existing framework, FBI investigations into assaults against DHS agents served a dual purpose. While ostensibly aimed at building cases against protesters and other civilians, these investigations also routinely produced evidence that could be used against officers in future prosecutions.

Under the new guidance, that safeguard disappears. HSI — which is part of ICE — would be tasked with investigating its own agents. Critically, HSI lacks jurisdiction to investigate civil rights violations, meaning that shootings of unarmed civilians by ICE agents would face little to no independent federal scrutiny.

The government has aggressively pursued felony assault charges against protesters and others who have had even fleeting or unintentional physical contact with ICE agents. Yet a Times analysis found that nearly half of those cases end in acquittal, dismissal, or the charges being withdrawn.

Self-Investigation and Accountability

The shift raises serious questions about accountability in federal immigration enforcement. Leaving investigations of agent misconduct to the very agency whose officers are under scrutiny creates an inherent conflict of interest. Without FBI oversight, the likelihood of federal civil rights charges being brought against ICE agents drops sharply, effectively insulating them from legal consequences for use-of-force incidents.

Civil liberties groups and legal experts have condemned the reported policy change, arguing that it erodes a critical check on federal law enforcement power at a time when scrutiny of ICE tactics is already at an all-time high.

The DHS and DOJ have not yet issued formal statements confirming or denying the scope of the reported policy change.

Ice on Know the Tech

FBI Reportedly Halts Investigations Into ICE Assaults, Leaving Agency to Police Itself

FBI Steps Back From ICE Assault Investigations

A Pattern of Violence

A System Designed to Fail?

Self-Investigation and Accountability