A Federal Register final rule, Codification of Certain U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Law Enforcement Authorities, published Friday, September 5, 2025, confers standard federal law enforcement capabilities to USCIS, including investigation from start to finish (instead of referring certain cases to Homeland Security Investigations within US Immigration and Customs Enforcement), search and arrest warrants, prosecution of individuals violating US immigration laws, and carrying a firearm.
USCIS director Joseph Edlow also has the authority to order expedited removal and investigate civil and criminal violations of the immigration laws within the jurisdiction of USCIS. Under the Final Rule, the Director of USCIS may designate individuals or a class of individuals as having the authority to arrest persons for any felony, if the officer is performing immigration enforcement duties at the time of the arrest and if there is a likelihood of the person escaping before an arrest warrant can be obtained. The Final Rule is in response to Executive Order 14159.
The Trump administration says that this will enable USCIS to “more efficiently clear its backlogs of aliens who seek to exploit our immigration system through fraud, prosecute them, and remove them from the country.”
EIG Analysis: While the rule will increase the fear factor for immigrants applying for benefits (i.e., the possibility of an armed officer during interviews), it doesn’t functionally change the law. USCIS has never allowed fraud or lies on applications, and this remains the law regardless of this policy. This rule does enable USCIS to conduct some investigations that ICE previously handled, but that doesn’t functionally change the law; it simply impacts the bureaucratic division of labor.
In addition to the rule, USCIS continues to invest in FDNS and will continue expanding its fraud efforts. USCIS is hiring (reportedly 1,600) FDNS officers, while also losing a similar number of adjudicators. This means that processing will likely slow down.
As the unpublished rule was released on September 4, 2025, and published today, there have been no reported legal challenges yet. However, we do expect that some advocacy organizations will file an Administrative Procedures Act (APA) challenge to the rule because (1) there was no notice and comment period, and (2) the transformation of USCIS into an enforcement agency was clearly not intended in the statute.
What to Expect
- USCIS, through this rule, has the power to identify alleged fraud, investigate it, and prosecute it to the fullest extent. It may also now have the power to pursue non-immigration-related crimes if the officer is conducting immigration enforcement duties at the same time.
- USCIS plans to recruit and train special agents who will exercise the additional law enforcement authorities.
- The rule takes effect 30 days after publication.
- Director Edlow said the focus on fraud will mostly be prospective, with the exception of denaturalization efforts that began under the first Trump administration. Edlow said there are no plans to re-launch an in-house unit at USCIS to pursue denaturalization, but the agency will assist the Department of Justice in pursuing those cases going forward.
- Separate from this rule: USCIS is also providing several states access to a Department of Homeland Security database to assist them with checking voter rolls and verifying voter eligibility.
Commentary and Guidance
- AILA expressed deep concern at the Trump Administration’s announcement that USCIS, a benefits agency, will be training armed agents, reportedly “to look for fraud in immigration applications—and arrest the immigrants in question or the lawyers who helped prepare their petitions.” “The Trump Administration has transformed USCIS into an enforcement agency, weaponizing the immigration system against American families, asylum seekers, and businesses. What’s worse, this rule states they now plan to arm potentially hundreds of agents at USCIS,” said Jeff Joseph, AILA President. Benjamin Johnson, AILA Executive Director, added, “This alarming development is another example of the administration’s singular focus of creating a hostile environment for all immigrants and their attorneys, who they unfairly malign as ‘vexatious.’ Immigration attorneys ensure fair adjudications and legal representation to individuals navigating complex immigration policies. Threatening to arrest immigrants and possibly their attorneys, shows a deepening disdain for immigrants and the rule of law. Instead of solutions for the American people, they are closing America’s doors to the world.”
- WSJ: Agency That Issues Visas and Green Cards Is Hiring Armed Agents
Background | Creation of the USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security
- In 2004, USCIS created the Fraud Detection and National Security Office (FDNS) in response to a Congressional recommendation to establish an organization “responsible for developing, implementing, directing, and overseeing the joint [US]CIS-ICE anti-fraud initiative, and conducting law enforcement/background checks on every applicant, beneficiary, and petitioner prior to granting any immigration benefits.”
- Currently, FDNS supports the USCIS mission by establishing guidance and overseeing processes to identify and mitigate threats to national security and public safety posed by those seeking immigration benefits; detecting, pursuing, and deterring immigration benefit fraud; identifying and removing systemic vulnerabilities in the process of the legal immigration system; developing and implementing security screening programs and procedures; and acting as a USCIS conduit for information sharing and collaboration with other governmental agencies.
- The initial delegation from the DHS Secretary to USCIS directed USCIS to coordinate with ICE and CBP on complementary, concurrent, or overlapping authorities.
- In 2017, then-Secretary Johnson reaffirmed the delegated authority of the Director of USCIS to conduct certain law enforcement activities relating to the accessing of internet and publicly available social media content. This authority was to be exercised in matters under the jurisdiction of their respective directorates to protect national security and public safety and was only to be enacted by properly trained and authorized officers and employees of USCIS.
- On July 23, 2025, USCIS and ICE entered into their fourth Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to coordinate on the investigation of immigration benefit fraud and the referral of cases for criminal investigation. The MOA provides that ICE has sole responsibility for detecting, deterring, and conducting criminal investigations of immigration benefit fraud. USCIS is primarily responsible for identifying and detecting potential fraud through civil investigations conducted in the ordinary course of adjudicating applications and petitions for immigration benefits. Thus, USCIS currently must refer any potential criminal activity or investigation to ICE. The MOA divides criminal and civil immigration benefit fraud investigations between ICE and USCIS, respectively.
- While there is an overlap between the original ICE and USCIS delegations, the current MOA explains DHS policy and the division of labor between the two components based upon the original delegations. These internal DHS policies and MOAs will be appropriately updated as a result of the Secretary’s 2025 delegation to USCIS, as discussed following publication of this rule.