Former federal agents worry about resources and funding going to the wrong causes

The continuous deployment of masked ICE agents and the military to communities of color takes money and resources from active federal investigations and disaster preparedness as it prioritizes low-level immigration enforcement, former federal agents said.

During a recent press event by the nonprofit America’s Voice, the former federal officials warned of public safety as the Trump administration continues the immigration raids, detentions and mass deportations. 

They said these actions only divide Americans and incite political violence. This seems to be a continuation of what Trump has been doing since the beginning of 2021 when he lost the reelection. 

Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer, Harry Dunn, said he endured political violence at its most extreme form on Jan. 6, 2021, when officers, including him, were attacked and beaten by a mob who believed the election was stolen. 

While Trump rejects that he incited violence during the insurrection, he fully pardoned 14 insurrectionists and members of violent extremist groups as soon as he took office this year.

Currently, the federal government is in the middle of a shutdown after Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on a spending budget. However, the Trump administration has left the ICE agents on the streets, citing that they are essential. 

Immigration over natural disasters

Rafael Lemaitre, former director of public affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to take money away from FEMA for  immigration enforcement, the recovery of certain areas of the country from disasters will take much longer.

“Right now, FEMA is being gutted,” he said. “Millions of dollars are being diverted away from vital resiliency and mitigation and preparedness efforts and diverted towards performance politics.”

Lemaitre said in 2005 Hurricane Katrina exposed major flaws in the national emergency management system and how underfunded the agency was.

“It was under-respected, and it took years of bipartisan action in Congress to fix FEMA. And they did,” said Lemaitre. 

However, under the Trump administration, the agency is 20% down on staff. At the beginning of the year, the Trump administration ceased training first responders and public safety officials at their two training facilities.

“Those are years of experience that people are not going to get back, that we can't get back overnight, and you can't just hire the next day,” he said. “So I have a very real fear that our nation is going to be unprepared during the next major disaster.”

Then, with the mass deportations, the trust that federal officers had built with the communities now is in a balance. Vulnerable and immigrant communities now fear to communicate with federal agencies. 

“Hurricanes don't differentiate based on immigration status,” he said. “They don't care if you're in a red state. They don't care if you're a blue state. Hurricanes and other disasters strike, and when they do, FEMA emergency managers, local public safety officials need to have trust with the communities they serve so that they listen and lives are saved.”

The former federal employees said they hope the political environment changes, but it is also difficult when people hear the president of the United States saying, “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them,” during conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s memorial service.