What Trump’s immigration agenda could mean for San Diego in 2026

In President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration turned the federal government into a massive deportation machine. 

Over the past year, thousands of federal officials from an array of agencies from the FBI to the Drug Enforcement Administration have been diverted from their normal work to focus on immigration enforcement. Federal prosecutors have been directed to prioritize criminal cases against people who crossed the border illegally. 

By December, the government said that it had conducted 605,000 deportations, and that 1.9 million had “self-deported,” in 2025. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security called it a “record-breaking achievement.”

The president’s supporters say his immigration crackdown is a public safety and national security measure, though data show many people arrested by immigration authorities had no criminal record. Critics say other investigations and prosecutions are getting sidelined for immigration enforcement, and fear it could make Americans less safe.

Here’s what we know, and what we’ll be watching in 2026.

The Southern District of California, which includes San Diego and Imperial counties, is one of the nation’s busiest federal court districts due to its proximity to the border. This means the Trump administration’s push to bring more immigration cases could really impact the counties.

Last year, inewsource reported federal prosecutors in San Diego and Imperial counties were on track to bring more than twice as many criminal immigration cases as the year before. Most involved no crime other than crossing the border illegally, which is a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for those found in the U.S. after having been deported previously.

Federal prosecutors filed more than 3,500 cases immigration cases in the Southern District of California between October 2024 and July of this year, the most recent data available. In the previous fiscal year, the total was only about 1,900, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan research organization, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. 

More strikingly, prosecutions under the misdemeanor charge for illegal entry — Section 1325 of Title 8 of U.S. Code — are on track to be about nine times higher than the previous fiscal year. 

Meanwhile, prosecutions for several other crime categories are trending down from the previous fiscal year, according to TRAC data from the first 10 months of the 2025 fiscal year: 

• Prosecutions for weapons crimes are on track to be down about 40%.
• Prosecutions under Project Childhood Safe, a nationwide initiative against child sexual exploitation, are on track to be down about 27%. 
• Prosecutions for white collar crimes, such as fraud, are on track to be down 20%.
• Prosecutions for drug crimes, including importation and conspiracy, are on track to be down about 9%.

John D. Kirby, a federal criminal defense attorney in San Diego who previously worked as a federal prosecutor in the area, said the diversion of federal resources will impact the ability of federal agencies to start new drug or white collar investigations. 

Kirby said he has noticed a drop in federal narcotics cases this year, and seen some of those cases transferred for prosecution by local authorities, where penalties are lesser. 

Recent reporting has indicated that some criminal investigations are already being affected. 

In November, The New York Times reported that the reassignment of thousands of federal agents from normal duties to immigration enforcement was “undermining a wide range of law enforcement operations.” 

In September, the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization, estimated more than 25,000 federal agents had been diverted to immigration enforcement, based on records from the Department of Homeland Security. 

Congressional leaders are increasingly interested in understanding how Trump’s immigration agenda will affect law enforcement operations. Last month, five Democrats in the House of Representatives asked a government watchdog to look into how the reassignment of federal agents to immigration enforcement has affected investigations into gun and narcotics trafficking, human trafficking and crimes against children. 

Their letter expressed concern “that by granting immigration enforcement authority to these law enforcement employees and deprioritizing criminal investigations, these law enforcement personnel no longer have the capacity to conduct the important criminal investigations work they were hired to do.”

If you or someone you know have been impacted by the diversion of federal agents to immigration enforcement, let us know. Send me an email at sofiamejias@inewsource.org or message me on Signal at 619-736-8450.