There was apparently some truth to President Donald Trump’s quip last month about sending Internal Revenue Service (IRS) workers to the southern U.S. border to help with deportation efforts.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to deputize some law-enforcement workers, including criminal investigators from the IRS, to help with immigration efforts, according to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
IRS criminal investigators often carry firearms and can make arrests. They currently investigate tax return preparer fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and identity theft schemes, among other crimes, according to the IRS website.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked Bessent to provide agents who would help investigate financial flows involving human-trafficking networks and businesses that employ illegal immigrants in a memo dated February 7,…
