Several special agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement want their organization split into two distinct agencies.
Nineteen investigators in the ICE branch Homeland Security Investigations wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asking to be separated from the Enforcement and Removal Operations team, which carries out deportations.
ERO has been the face of ICE under the Trump administration. The HSI agents said their independence as investigators has been questioned and the two teams compete for resources.
The HSI focuses on national security issues like cybercrimes, child exploitation, money laundering, drug trafficking and human smuggling.
