The FBI is planning to move thousands of agents working in immigration enforcement to boost counterterrorism efforts in the wake of U.S. strikes on Iran, according to reports.
A memo was reportedly distributed in the past 48 hours to FBI field office directors with instructions to focus resources on terror threats, including those made at home, sources told CBS News, while insiders told ABC News that potentially thousands of agents could be moved.
“The FBI does not comment on specific operational adjustments or personnel decisions,” an FBI official spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. “However, we continuously assess and realign our resources to respond to the most pressing threats to our national security and to ensure the safety of the American people.”
FBI Director Kash Patel warned Monday that the bureau’s main priority is now stopping any possible retaliation at home.
“Right now the focus, given the nature especially of what just happened, has to be on protecting the homeland and protecting our communities,” Patel said at the National Sheriffs’ Association conference in Florida.
Following the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, the FBI assigned agents to support immigration enforcement efforts. But agents had previously expressed concern that as a result, fewer resources were working on counterterrorism threats, according to ABC. Employees complained about being pulled off counterterrorism tasks to work on immigration issues, sources also told CBS.
The move to refocus agents comes swiftly after the National Terrorism Advisory System issued a bulletin Sunday warning Americans that the Iran conflict has created a “heightened threat environment” in the U.S.
“Low-level cyber attacks against U.S. networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct attacks against U.S. networks,” the bulletin said. “Iran also has a long-standing commitment to target U.S. government officials it views as responsible for the death of an Iranian military commander killed in January 2020.”
“The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland,” the warning continued.
President Donald Trump raged at Israel and Iran Tuesday morning after the “complete and total” ceasefire he announced on Monday evening immediately broke down, with the two sides accusing each other of violations.
The chaos led to Trump telling reporters on the South Lawn of the White House that neither side “knows what the f*** they’re doing.”
“Iran violated it, but Israel violated it too. Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve seen,” the president said, visibly angry.
