Stephen Miller Prioritized This Guy's Shame Over Children Being Raped - emptywheel

"There have been a slew of articles in recent days about how DHS and DOJ are neglecting important concerns to instead chase Stephen Miller's racist fever dreams. NYT has a long piece summarizing the stories we've heard piecemeal of 60 DOJ lawyers who've left. MS-NOW reveals that an FBI SWAT team is babysitting Kash's girlfriend. And NYT has a story that incorporates FOIAed data with interviews about what DHS investigators aren't doing because they are instead chasing migrants."

"Homeland security agents investigating sexual crimes against children, for instance, have been redeployed to the immigrant crackdown for weeks at a time, hampering their pursuit of child predators. A national security probe into the black market for Iranian oil sold to finance terrorism has been slowed down for months because of the shift to immigration work, allowing tanker ships and money to disappear. And federal efforts to combat human smuggling and sex trafficking have languished with investigators reassigned to help staff deportation efforts."

"Homeland security investigators worked approximately 33 percent fewer hours on child exploitation cases from February through April compared to their average in prior years, based on FOIA data. 'It's heartbreaking,' said Hany Farid, a computer scientist who helped create software used by law enforcement and technology companies to detect child sexual abuse material. 'You can't say you care about kids when you're diverting actual resources that are protecting children.'"

DHS and DOJ shifted personnel and resources toward immigration enforcement, pulling Homeland Security Investigations agents off child sexual exploitation, human smuggling, and trafficking probes. HSI agents worked approximately 33 percent fewer hours on child exploitation cases from February through April compared to their average in prior years, based on FOIA data. A national security investigation into the black market for Iranian oil sold to finance terrorism slowed, allowing tanker ships and funds to disappear. Federal efforts to combat human smuggling and sex trafficking languished as investigators were reassigned to staff deportation operations. Sixty DOJ lawyers departed and an FBI SWAT team was assigned to protect a public figure's associate.

Read at emptywheel