Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to deputize some of his law-enforcement workers, including IRS criminal investigators, in order to help her department find illegal migrants, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Noem sent the letter on Friday as part of a larger effort to pull in law-enforcement officials at various agencies to help carry out the deportations of illegal migrants. The secretary asked Bessent for IRS investigators who could help her department determine whether certain money flowed to human trafficking networks, or whether businesses employ illegal migrants.

The letter comes after Congress voted in 2022 to expand the IRS and its criminal-investigation division, and give it more resources. The division has 2,290 special agents, per the Wall Street Journal.

“It is DHS’s understanding that the Department of Treasury has qualified law enforcement personnel available to assist with immigration enforcement, especially in light of recent increases to the Internal Revenue Service’s work force and budget,” Noem wrote in the memo.

The IRS' criminal investigators are already authorized to make arrests, and can carry firearms like other law enforcement agents. 

The secretary has also asked the Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service for help in making arrests.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.