HSI or FBI: Which Agency Investigates Your Case, and Does It Matter??

Last Updated on: 4th August 2026, 01:33 am

Yes. When HSI knocks, the badge it wears symbolizes more than just law enforcement power, but also potentially life-altering detention powers, financial repercussions that are civil (and may be punitive) and yet are no less significant than criminal penalties, and other unique exposures.

Why Is This the Case?

Unlike the FBI, HSI belongs to the same agency that includes enforcement and removal operations (“ERO”). While HSI serves as ICE’s criminal investigative directorate, it shares with ERO a comprehensive mandate to enforce immigration-related laws and regulations. In addition to its immigration enforcement role, HSI’s distinguishing law enforcement portfolio includes, but is not limited to, customs, trade, import and export violations, immigration crimes, and cross-border offenses.

While sentencing exposure is calculated according to the statute(s) under which an HSI (or FBI) Special Agent (or Special-Agent-in-Charge) files criminal charges against you, this is only part of the story. Criminal investigations, whether conducted by HSI, the FBI, or any other agency, can run parallel to civil enforcement or administrative proceedings. While HSI agents do not always pursue civil or administrative proceedings against the individuals they investigate criminally, they have the authority to do so. And, in civil or administrative proceedings, constitutional rights (and the corresponding defenses) do not apply as widely as they do in criminal prosecutions.

What Is Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)?

HSI is the criminal investigative directorate of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a sub-agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Together with ERO, the ICE’s separate, yet integrated, civil enforcement and removal operations directorate, HSI is known as one of the largest investigative agencies in the world. HSI is the federal government’s second-largest investigative agency, with more than 7,100 special agents.

Who Decides Whether HSI or FBI Leads the Investigation?

Congress deliberately distributed federal investigative authority among numerous agencies rather than concentrating it in one agency (as is the case in many other jurisdictions and under many other types of laws). When selecting which agency to lead a particular case, the government generally looks at:

• Which statute(s) has or is likely to be charged?
• What was the source of the referral (i.e., the agency or agency employee that first received information about the alleged crime)?
• What particular expertise is required to investigate and prosecute the alleged offense(s) efficiently and effectively?
• What are the particular preferences of the federal prosecutors involved in pursuing the criminal case?

How Do HSI and FBI Jurisdiction Overlap?

The FBI’s and HSI’s investigative jurisdictions overlap in broad areas such as cybercrime, terrorism, fraud, and organized crime. When HSI and FBI Special Agents work together with DEA Special Agents, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agents, ATF Special Agents, and Secret Service Special Agents, this can mean a number of things. For example, the badge you see on the door might represent a joint investigation by all of these (or other) agencies. Or, HSI might be leading a joint task force with others.

Do Either HSI or the FBI “Do” All Trafficking, Terrorism, Cybercrime, and Financial-Fraud Investigations?

No. While both HSI and the FBI are actively involved in all of these cases, no single agency “do” all trafficking, terrorism, cybercrime, and financial-fraud investigations. This is partly because Congress distributed criminal-investigative authority (and enforcement responsibility) among various agencies for all of the above-mentioned categories of crimes. It is also true that, on a case-by-case basis, an agency may have a greater ability to conduct a full-scope investigation based on its scope of authority, resources, and geographic area.

What Are the “Joint Task Force” Investigations the FBI and HSI Do Together?

Joint Investigations are cases that involve multiple agencies. In these cases, the participating agencies designate one lead agency. To avoid “duplicative effort and redundant-investigative steps,” agencies use deconfliction procedures to ensure that they are not wasting time and taxpayer resources to conduct similar (or the same) investigative steps by duplicate means. HSI is currently active in multiple joint task forces with the FBI, along with others.

What Are the Crimes That HSI Has the Authority to Investigate?

The list of crimes that HSI has the authority to investigate is a long one. To date, it lists enforcing over 400 federal statutes as part of its investigative authority, and this will include:

• Homeland Security / Customs and Border / Border Protection Crimes
• Narcotic, Psychotropic, and Controlled Drug Crimes
• Cyber- and High-Tech Crimes
• Human Trafficking and Illegal Immigration
• Financial Crimes (Including Tax Fraud)
• Terrorist Activities

What Investigative Powers Differ Between HSI and the FBI?

Both HSI and the FBI are federal investigative agencies that focus heavily on transnational crimes. The most conspicuous differences in their investigative portfolios and jurisdictions are:

• The FBI is focused more heavily on transnational cybercrimes, terrorism, white-collar crimes, and other criminal-justice concerns that often take place domestically or overseas. The FBI also has specialized divisions focusing on cyber, counterterrorism, and general criminal investigations.
• HSI has more of a focus on transnational crimes involving international travel, border crossings, international trade, and other types of cross-border activities. The focus on illegal trade is one of HSI’s distinguishing portfolios. This focus allows HSI to leverage its customs, trade, and immigration law enforcement authorities to investigate and prosecute various other offenses.

HSI and the FBI also use their foreign-law enforcement relationships and partnerships when investigating cases involving overseas targets and targets traveling to and from the United States. HSI has a global presence, leveraging its foreign offices to seek evidence, coordinate enforcement, and work with law-enforcement agencies abroad. The FBI has its own network of overseas law enforcement offices and relationships that help it obtain evidence and pursue criminal investigations involving targets in foreign nations.

Does HSI Have Different Powers (Especially Regarding Terrorism) Than the FBI?

As stated, HSI and the FBI both use their authority to pursue cases involving terrorism. While the FBI takes the central federal role in terrorism investigations involving targets within the U.S., HSI’s focus centers on utilizing its travel, trade, smuggling, and customs authorities to assist in identifying, targeting, tracking, and prosecuting terrorist organizations.

How Does the FBI Detect and Investigate Crimes and Offenses Within the United States?

The FBI has a wide range of investigative powers and tools that Special Agents may use to pursue criminal investigations within the United States. This includes the ability to use surveillance, court-authorized wiretaps, financial analysis, forensic analysis, and the authority to detain suspected criminal offenders and targets of investigations.

How Does HSI Differ From Other Federal Law Enforcement Agencies When Executing a Warrant?

Unlike the FBI and most other federal law enforcement agencies, HSI can conduct certain searches at the border without a warrant. Due to HSI’s role in border security, the agency (and its Special Agents) has the ability to conduct warrantless border searches of both people and the electronic devices they are carrying into (or out of) the United States. This is most-likely to happen at airports, sea ports, and land ports of entry. However, while these are considered “border” searches, HSI agents also have the ability to execute warrants far beyond the border area, as will be detailed below.

How Does HSI Get Information to Use in Investigations?

Along with obtaining access to relevant information from individual agents’ experience and other HSI Special Agents’ investigations, HSI also uses its ability to reach DHS information systems that contain immigration records, information regarding individuals’ attempts to enter the United States, other information concerning crossing the border, and information concerning trade and commerce with foreign nations.

How Does the FBI Get Information to Use in Investigations?

The FBI relies more heavily on its abilities to execute warrants, its partnerships with other federal and state law-enforcement agencies, and its network of foreign law-enforcement partnerships when investigating and pursuing criminal investigations targeting suspects that have information that the FBI needs to find.

If any of this describes your situation, it is worth talking it through with counsel. Spodek Law Group can be reached at 212-300-5196.

What Extra Risks Come with an HSI Investigation?

When HSI conducts a criminal investigation into an individual or organization, it can also run civil and administrative proceedings against that individual or organization. This is a big difference from having an FBI investigation into criminal wrongdoing.

Here are some examples of civil and administrative proceedings that can run alongside (or even produce) HSI criminal investigations:

• HSI’s Domestic Operations component can conduct a criminal investigation at the same time that HSI’s sister directorate, the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) directorate, conducts a civil immigration arrest investigation.
• Along with criminal proceedings, HSI can also pursue civil forfeiture against alleged “proceeds of the crime” such as cash, bank accounts, vehicles, real property, and other types of tangible and intangible assets. While civil forfeiture and criminal forfeiture both rely on the allegation that the seized asset was obtained unlawfully (or was used during the commission of a crime), there are differences in how the case is brought:
• While criminal forfeiture proceedings are criminal prosecutions, and thus, require a criminal conviction before the court can enter a final order of forfeiture, civil forfeiture proceedings are civil or administrative proceedings, and can proceed without criminal convictions.
• HSI often works with employers to conduct “administrative I-9 inspections” in order to ensure that they have the authorization to hire non-United States citizens and authorized aliens who need to work in the United States. These “inspections” are administrative proceedings, even if the inspection is being conducted by HSI personnel.
• If HSI visits a business entity’s workplace, this does not necessarily indicate a criminal investigation.
• HSI Special Agents who are working on criminal cases and who encounter people with questions about their immigration status can refer those individuals to the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) directorate for potential civil immigration enforcement.
• HSI investigates suspected fraud in transactions involving U.S. Customs, and federal prosecutors may prosecute it. This investigation can produce criminal charges, as well as substantial fines, the loss of import or export privileges, and the revocation of customs-related bonds.
• HSI pursues criminal forfeiture as well as civil judicial and administrative forfeiture. Criminal and civil judicial forfeiture are handled through the court system, whereas administrative forfeiture is handled through the agency’s administrative-review process. The rules and procedures differ in these three scenarios as do the burdens of proof required to make successful forfeiture.

When Does This Happen?

The examples listed above are representative of some of the risks that may come with an HSI investigation. However, HSI conducts a number of different types of investigations, and the specific risks present will vary depending on what is at issue.

For this reason, when we represent individuals and businesses in HSI investigations and prosecutions, we ensure that we comprehensively assess all risks, including those that could arise from non-criminal proceedings. The criminal proceedings will be our primary concern, but we will also have in mind the risk of civil forfeiture, revocation of import/export privileges, civil immigration enforcement action, and other non-criminal results. If you’re a business entity, this means not only in criminal proceedings but also during I-9 compliance checks.

Even if our clients’ immigration status is correct, having a U.S. Citizen’s employment status questioned may create risks that employers will want to address as well.

Does HSI or FBI Control What Happens in Court?

Do Investigating Agents Determine Which Charges Get Filed against Targets of Criminal Investigations?

No. While investigating agents will generally have a strong opinion about what charges the U.S. Attorney’s Office (the federal prosecutors) should pursue, ultimately, the decision rests with the prosecutors.

Do Investigating Agents Negotiate Plea Agreements with Defendants and Co-Defendants?

No. While investigating agents will certainly give input, federal prosecutors negotiate plea agreements.

Can Investigating Agents Decide to Confer Immunity on a Witness in Exchange for Witnessing Against the Target of a Criminal Investigation?

No. Investigating agents cannot confer immunity, and witness negotiations in exchange for assistance from suspected co-conspirators must be sanctioned and authorized by federal prosecutors.

Can Investigating Agents Issue Grand-Jury Subpoenas to Targets, Witnesses, Third-Parties, and the Banks Where Targets Deposit Their Funds?

No. Investigating agents serve grand-jury subpoenas on behalf of federal prosecutors; however, they lack the authority to issue subpoenas.

Can Investigating Agents Execute Search Warrants Without the Judge or Magistrate Approving the Warrant First?

No. While investigating agents prepare the underlying application in order to obtain approval from a judge or magistrate to execute a search warrant, federal judges and magistrates must approve the warrant in order for investigating agents to execute it.

Does Knowing Whether HSI or FBI is Investigating Me Clarify the Charges I’m Likely to Face or the Strength of the Evidence the Government Has Gathered Against Me?

No. Knowing whether HSI or FBI is investigating you may tell you something about what the government thinks you did, but it does not clarify the charges you are likely to face or how the government is collecting evidence against you.

When HSI or FBI Investigates My Case, Do They Keep Their Investigative Records to Themselves?

No. Investigating agents typically work hand-in-hand with prosecutors. In joint investigations, this also includes investigative and intelligence records being shared among participating agencies.

What Does the Government Need to Prove in Civil Judicial Forfeiture Proceedings?

In civil judicial forfeiture cases, the government is required to prove the forfeitability of assets by a preponderance of the evidence.

What Should I Do if HSI or FBI Contacts Me?

Depending on what you’re being accused of doing (or of doing, possibly), there may be a number of reasons not to voluntarily make a statement to HSI or FBI agents, though the extent of the risks of these voluntary interviews can differ based on the underlying facts. For this reason, it is generally advisable to decline these voluntary interviews.

Can HSI or FBI Agents Execute a Search Warrant if the Occupant Doesn’t Consent?

If they have a valid search warrant, then, yes, HSI and FBI Special Agents can execute a search warrant regardless of whether the occupant of the property they’re searching consents. The executing agent’s ability to execute the search warrant is constrained by the scope of the warrant, as well as any additional judicial constraints imposed by the judge or magistrate when issuing the warrant. These are, in turn, constrained by what the searching agent does once they arrive on-site. For example, if the warrant allows the agents to search your business’s office for “all computer files,” this search should not, in theory, permit the agents to seize you’s personal cell phone. However, in practice, these things happen, and it’s crucial to hold the government to the terms of the search warrant (and the warrant’s underlying application).

Regarding electronic devices, the search warrant is also constrained by its description of “all electronic storage devices.” HSI and FBI Special Agents who execute the search warrant must typically work with forensic computer-specialists to review the acquired electronic data. If you’re worried about electronic files that have been downloaded from an internet source, make sure that the prosecuting attorneys are aware of this. Forensic analysts can usually date downloads.

What Should I Do if HSI or FBI Agents Seize a Digital Computer?

If you’re the owner (or the person with responsibility for the system) of the seized digital computer or other system, make sure that you (or your legal counsel) prompt the agents to protect all privileged materials. If a computer system was seized from your office or was taken from your house during the execution of the warrant, then privileged materials will be stored on the system and these files must be sequestered by the prosecutor’s office. If HSI or FBI Special Agents proceed to conduct their forensic analyses without sequestering privileged materials, this is a potential grounds for motion for suppression of the evidence seized (and even potentially evidence later in criminal trial proceedings).

Can I Tell Lying to HSI or FBI Agents during an Interview or When Responding to a Grand-Jury Subpoena?

No. Knowingly making any material false statement to a federal agent is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison, with probation, pardon, or acquittal at the conclusion). This means that not only are you to tell the truth, but you need to make sure that you’re telling the truth.

When Should I Contact HSI or FBI Agents or the Prosecutors on Their Case?

In some cases, it may be advisable for legal counsel to contact the agent(s) or prosecutor(s) in order to:

• Find out whether they (or their client, if they’re a business owner) are the target of their case (or merely a witness).
• Determine if the client is at risk for civil immigration enforcement action.
• Determine if a civil forfeiture action is pending (or likely) in addition to the criminal prosecution.
• Negotiate narrowed document demands.
• Seek a declination letter.

Speak With a Federal Defense Lawyer

If you are dealing with any part of what this article describes, the next step is a conversation with a lawyer who handles these cases. Spodek Law Group is a second generation criminal defense firm practicing since 1976, representing clients nationwide from offices in New York, Brooklyn, Queens and Los Angeles. Call 212-300-5196 to speak with our team.