The US Department of Justice has closed more than 23 criminal investigations, focusing only on migrants.

Following Pam Bondi's appointment as Attorney General early last year, the Justice Department began closing criminal cases en masse. These included high-profile investigations of dangerous crimes, writes ProPublica.

Among the closed cases are an investigation into patient abuse at a Virginia nursing home, fraud at several New Jersey unions, including embezzlement at a national union, and an investigation into a cryptocurrency company suspected of defrauding investors.

In just the first six months of the Donald Trump administration, the agency quietly dismissed more than 23 criminal cases. These included terrorism, economic crimes, and drug trafficking, which the Trump administration has little interest in, as all resources have been redirected to immigration cases.

On the subject: Justice Department vows to step up revoking U.S. citizenship and deporting those who held it

The majority of cases closed without charges (so-called waivers) were referred by law enforcement agencies to the Department of Justice. This agency has regularly declined to prosecute for various reasons, such as insufficient evidence or low case priority.

However, under Bondi, the scale of such denials has increased sharply not only compared to the Biden administration but also compared to Trump's first term. This unprecedented increase in denials is not related to either an increased workload or an increase in the number of materials received from law enforcement agencies.

In February 2025 alone, which marked Bondi's first weeks on the job, nearly 11,000 cases were rejected—the highest monthly total since at least 2004. The previous record—just over 6500 cases—was set in September 2019, during Trump's first term.

Some of the closed cases were the result of years of investigations by federal agencies such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. In complex cases, the Justice Department can take years to decide whether to file charges.

Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department has shuttered entire units, ordered it to stop prosecuting certain categories of crimes, and forced thousands of lawyers to resign or quit.

According to approximately 15 prosecutors, as well as the open letter from nearly 300 employees who left the department under Trump, the agency is abandoning its mission—to impartially uphold the rule of law, national security, and the protection of civil rights. Trump's Justice Department is "taking a sledgehammer" to decades-long work to protect communities and the rule of law, they wrote.

Trump, speaking at the department last March, said such changes were necessary: ​​they would “result in the restoration of fair, equal, and impartial justice within the framework of the constitutional rule of law.”

In its first six months, the administration filed 32,000 new immigration cases, nearly triple the number filed under the Biden administration and 15% more than during Trump's first term.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has dismissed more than 900 cases of fraud involving federal programs and government procurement. This is approximately three times the average dismissal rate under previous administrations for comparable periods. And despite the Trump administration's promise to "Make America Safe Again," the department has dismissed more than 1000 terrorism cases, also significantly more than before.

Federal Prosecutor Joseph Gerbasi had worked for years in the Narcotics and Dangerous Substances Unit, helping build cases against major suppliers of fentanyl components in India and China. After Bondi's appointment, he was shocked when his team was ordered to cease operations.

"All the elements that could have built a successful prosecution were destroyed," said the prosecutor, who retired as acting deputy chief of the policy section in March 2025 after 28 years of service.

Barbara McQuade, who served as a federal prosecutor in Michigan for nearly 20 years (under administrations of both parties until 2017), noted that it's common for new administrations to have multiple priorities, such as combating violent crime or drug trafficking. However, such changes are typically modest, and decisions on priorities are typically made at the local level—by district attorneys in conjunction with the FBI and other agencies.

"We reviewed them about every five years—not because of a change in administration, but because it made sense," she said.

The sharp increase in denials began in February 2025, when the department instructed prosecutors to review all cases opened before October 2022 and decide whether to close them. Such a review typically takes months, but according to one lawyer, it was only given 10 days.

Former prosecutors said they typically review their cases every six months, and the dismissal of protracted cases is not, in itself, a cause for concern. However, the February order seemed unusual—no one could recall anything similar.

It coincided, according to former prosecutor Michael Gordon, with management regularly requesting data on specific categories of cases and charging decisions, such as fentanyl cases.

"It was either 'give us statistics to make us look better' or 'give us statistics to show how bad things are,'" Gordon noted. "It had no connection to real analysis."

He was fired last June and filed a lawsuit alleging that the dismissal was politically motivated.

Here are some figures on the 11,000 criminal cases that were dismissed in Pam Bondi's first month as attorney general.

Drugs

Trump has frequently called drugs entering the country a scourge. Yet, the Justice Department has dismissed nearly 5000 federal drug violation cases, including trafficking and money laundering, a 45% increase over the average for the three previous administrations.

According to Gerbasi, after Bondi's appointment, the priority became building cases against the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration designated a foreign terrorist organization.

"Tren de Aragua isn't even close to the scale and influence of the cartels we've been dealing with," he assured. "But we were told to create these cases."

National security

Under Bondi, the Justice Department dismissed more than 1300 terrorism and national security cases—almost double the usual number. Over 300 cases of providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations were also dismissed.

The Homeland Security Program, which handles cases of espionage and protection of classified information, recorded over 200 denials, four times the usual number. Some of the cases involved working as unregistered foreign agents; Bondi ordered that such cases not be prosecuted unless they involved actions resembling classic espionage.

Labor Relations

The Justice Department dismissed at least 60 labor union corruption and racketeering cases, 2,5 times more than during Trump's first term. Nearly half of these cases were handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.

Economic crimes

The Trump administration promised to combat "massive" fraud in federal programs, but the Justice Department has dismissed more than 900 cases of fraud involving federal programs and procurements, including a case against a mortgage lender accused of defrauding the Federal Housing Administration. The stated reason was "prioritizing the allocation of federal resources and interests."

In addition, more than 100 healthcare fraud cases were closed on the same grounds (despite claims that this area was a priority).

Among the closed cases are an investigation into a nursing home in Virginia and fraud cases in Tennessee involving a national hospital chain and one of the largest Medicaid management companies.

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In February 2025, Trump signed an executive order suspending new investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits bribery of foreign officials. In the first six months, the Justice Department closed 25 such cases—more than the three previous administrations closed in the same period.

Furthermore, the agency dismissed three times as many environmental crime cases as the Biden administration, and one and a half times as many as during Trump's first term. About one-fifth of these cases were dismissed due to "prioritizing federal resources and interests."

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