Robbing Peter to pay Paul. That old saying just means taking resources from one place to cover another.
That’s also what happened within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to a new report from the DHS Office of Inspector General. The office found that enhanced immigration enforcement hindered efforts to fight fentanyl trafficking.
“Given [Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI)] unique role in disrupting fentanyl supplies into the United States, failure to address these issues may lead to an increase in illicit fentanyl available to the public and additional overdose deaths,” the report reads.
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Shifting priorities
The Inspector General (IG)’s report listed out several main findings.
Among them was that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) shift to prioritize immigration enforcement led to a 24% decline in fentanyl investigations.
Investigative hours spent countering fentanyl decreased by about 30% and fentanyl seizures decreased by 39%.
“There’s very little discussion about what should be done about fentanyl,” Peter Reuter, professor of public policy and criminology at the University of Maryland, told Straight Arrow.
Another major finding was that HSI’s technologies did not meet the needs of agents working fentanyl cases. That comes after spending millions of dollars on those tools.
The other issue involved funding delays affecting fentanyl investigations. That’s despite the department getting a massive funding increase.
The IG then made four recommendations to DHS.
They essentially call on HSI to review and adjust staffing, so it has enough agents dedicated to fentanyl investigations, improve coordination with other agencies, strengthen its fentanyl-related investigative capabilities and technology, and address problems that are limiting its ability to pursue fentanyl cases.
ICE fully agreed with the recommendations.
“I find it extraordinary that the Inspector General in the Trump administration for an agency as sensitive as DHS offers such a candid and critical report, and that the agency accepts the criticism,” Reuters said.
Fentanyl issues
One of President Donald Trump’s first actions in office was to declare a national emergency at the southern border, in part because of the drugs flowing in. That’s also been part of his push for stronger immigration enforcement.
“Did the White House use that rhetoric? Yes,” Reuter said. “They also claimed that they took actions in the early months of the administration against Canada because it was failing to enforce fentanyl prohibition vigorously enough to prevent it coming over the northern border. There was never any importation from Canada.”
According to the report, fentanyl investigations are typically more long-term and involve more transnational crime organizations. That requires more agents, more intelligence and more coordination.
This all comes at a time when fentanyl remains a major issue in the U.S.
Just last year, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) seized more than the equivalent of 369 million fatal doses of the drug.
There is some good news. Overdose deaths, including from opioids like fentanyl, decreased in 2025 for the third year in a row.
“I do not think that the decline has much to do with enforcement,” Reuters said.
Research shows there are several different reasons for the decline, including fentanyl saturation, naloxone being more widely available and more.
Canada is seeing a similar decline, which could also help offer an explanation.
“Canada’s not importing fentanyl from Mexico, it manufactures fentanyl domestically from Chinese precursors,” Reuter said. “So, if Canada and China are going through a similar supply shock, it’s very plausible that it has something to do with the control of precursors.”
Immigration enforcement
The Trump administration has made the opioid issue a priority at times, including while instituting tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada.
However, the issue of immigration has been a bigger priority.
ICE’s budget essentially tripled in Trump’s so-called “one big beautiful” bill last year.
Just last month, ICE arrested nearly 50,000 people, the highest monthly total during Trump’s second term.
All that enforcement has come from the extra resources dedicated to that subject, which was made more clear in this latest report.
And while DHS leaders agreed with the IG report, it’s not clear if any changes will be made.
“Nobody at the heart believes that what DHS is doing at the border has much to do with the interruption to fentanyl supply,” Reuter said. “So, I assume that things will continue pretty much as they are.”
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