USCIS Planned to Train Armed Agents to Arrest Applicants and Lawyers, Wall Street Journal Reported

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on September 4, 2025, that it planned to train armed special agents to investigate fraud in immigration applications. The plan included arresting applicants and lawyers who helped prepare their petitions.

Those officers would carry guns and could make arrests for immigration violations or other criminal charges. The Wall Street Journal’s September 2025 article focused on that plan and its proposed targets.

A separate final rule in the Federal Register outlines law-enforcement powers for officers classified as 1811 special agents. It describes powers including criminal investigations, arrests and warrants; the plan to arrest petition-preparing lawyers was part of the account of the agency’s fraud-enforcement initiative.

The planned force would investigate fraud and make arrests

The agency described the officers as able to investigate cases, make arrests, present cases for prosecution and execute warrants. These are special investigators, not a description of every employee who reviews immigration benefits.

The proposed force would start at roughly 200 agents. Recruitment and training were expected to take place over the next few months, with officers placed at immigration offices around the country.

Applicants and petitioners could face investigation if agents suspected fraud. Lawyers who prepared petitions could also be targets of arrest under the plan. Joseph B. Edlow, then the agency’s director, said enforcement would prioritize denaturalization cases involving new citizens who lied on their applications.

The proposal would expand the agency’s role in criminal investigations. Before the change, its fraud officers referred criminal cases to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Those existing officers did not carry weapons or make arrests.

Edlow said ICE had lacked capacity to pursue every lead the agency sent over. He presented the new investigators as a way for the department to handle those cases directly, rather than pass them to ICE.

The agency’s formal rule and the account of arresting applicants and petition-preparing lawyers describe related but distinct parts of the development. The rule sets out the law-enforcement authorities for 1811 officers; the announced plan identified application fraud and people involved in petition preparation as enforcement targets.

Edlow expects a deterrent for fraud, while lawyers warn of fear

Edlow said he wanted the prospect of enforcement to deter fraudulent filings, not applications generally.

“I'm not expecting this to have a chilling effect on applications,” Edlow said. “I'm expecting this to have a chilling effect on fraudulent applications, and that's what I want.”

The agency’s existing fraud unit referred cases to ICE, whose officers could pursue investigations and arrests. Edlow argued that the referral process left leads unaddressed when ICE lacked capacity.

Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), criticized the plan, saying it would turn the benefits system toward enforcement and could affect families, asylum seekers and businesses. AILA also warned that arming agents could make applicants and their attorneys less willing to approach the agency.

That concern contrasts with Edlow’s stated aim. He described the expected chilling effect as one on fraudulent applications, while the association raised the risk of fear among people using immigration procedures.

The rule’s current legal status and whether agents have been deployed remain unresolved. Watch the agency for updates on recruitment, training and implementation of the special-agent program.