USPS Inspection Service assists federal immigration enforcement efforts

The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has begun collaborating with federal immigration officials to locate individuals suspected of being in the country illegally.

According to documents obtained by The Washington Post and sources familiar with the matter, the Postal Inspection Service is now participating in a Department of Homeland Security task force focused on finding, detaining, and deporting undocumented immigrants.

Immigration officials are seeking access to the Postal Inspection Service's surveillance systems and requesting photographs of the exteriors of mail and packages through a program known as "mail covers," according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns about professional repercussions. The cooperation includes potential access to Postal Service online account data, tracking information, credit card data, financial materials, and IP addresses.

The Postal Inspection Service – the oldest law enforcement agency in the nation – employs approximately 1,700 officers. This includes about 1,250 inspectors who conduct investigations and 450 police officers who provide physical security, according to its 2023 annual report.

In 2020, the Postal Service limited the role of police officers, restricting their jurisdiction to postal property and preventing them from conducting patrols or accompanying mail carriers.

Leaders of the Postal Inspection Service agreed to participate in the program amid concerns the administration might seek broader control over the Postal Service based on records and information from anonymous sources. An internal Inspection Service email summarizing a meeting with immigration officials stated, "We want to play well in the sandbox."

Recent evidence of this collaboration appeared when postal inspectors participated in a raid in Colorado Springs that involved drug enforcement and immigration operations. According to a video posted on social media, agents from other federal agencies, including the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, also took part in the operation, which resulted in the arrest of more than 100 undocumented immigrants, according to local law enforcement officials.

A senior Homeland Security official stated collaboration with the Postal Inspection Service was "a key part of ensuring law enforcement has the resources they need to fulfill President Trump's promise to the American people to remove violent criminals from our streets, dismantle drug and human trafficking operations and make America safe again." 

Representatives from the Postal Service did not provide comments.

According to records obtained by The Washington Post, this shift in participating in immigration enforcement follows an executive order to include all federal law enforcement agencies in efforts to locate and deport immigrants.

The involvement of postal authorities is part of a broader effort by the administration to repurpose federal agencies and their data to enhance immigration enforcement. Within the past month, the Department of Government Efficiency, has received permission to access sensitive immigration case data at the Justice Department.

It also sought Medicare claims data to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement locate addresses of undocumented immigrants and initiated efforts at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to identify and evict immigrants from public housing.

In a separate move in April, the administration classified 6,000 living immigrants as dead within a Social Security death database, reportedly hoping the migrants would "self-deport," according to The Washington Post.

President Donald Trump has previously suggested privatizing the agency and has stated he hopes to merge it with the Commerce Department, a change that would require congressional approval. In March, senior administration officials moved to remove Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and Trump has considered dissolving the agency's governing board.