The U.S. Postal Service has reportedly joined a broader federal effort to help crack down on illegal immigration, following a January directive from President Trump that called on all federal law enforcement agencies to assist in enforcing immigration laws.
According to reporting, the Postal Inspection Service the law enforcement branch of USPS has quietly begun working with federal immigration authorities to help locate individuals suspected of being in the country unlawfully. The shift appears to have taken place as part of a series of executive orders signed by Trump on his first day back in office, including one that directed the creation of immigration task forces composed of officials from various federal agencies.
Evidence of the Postal Service’s new role surfaced in part through a video released by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which showed law enforcement personnel wearing “U.S. Postal Inspector Police” jackets participating in an immigration raid at a Colorado nightclub. That operation resulted in the detention of over 100 undocumented individuals.
The Postal Inspection Service, which dates back to the early years of the country, is made up of roughly 1,300 inspectors and about 500 uniformed officers. It has traditionally focused on crimes involving the mail such as fraud, theft, and drug trafficking but it has occasionally worked alongside other law enforcement agencies in tracking fugitives and conducting criminal investigations.
The administration is expected to utilize existing USPS surveillance programs, including those that monitor envelope images, package tracking, and certain financial data, to help identify and locate undocumented immigrants. The use of such tools has previously been employed in investigations involving drugs, terrorism, and organized crime.
This expanded role for postal inspectors comes as part of President Trump’s intensified immigration crackdown, which continues to draw criticism from civil rights groups and raises new questions about the scope of surveillance and inter-agency cooperation under the administration’s enforcement strategy.