In a move that will surprise absolutely no one who has been paying attention, the FBI has reportedly decided it will no longer investigate confrontations involving ICE agents. According to the New York Times, federal agents received word of the change, though the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have officially denied it. Because nothing says transparency like a policy that both exists and doesn't exist.

The reported guidance shift comes on the heels of two ICE shootings in Maine and Texas that left people dead - just the latest in a string of fatal encounters. ICE agents have also been accused of intimidating witnesses after these incidents, which is certainly one way to handle public relations.

Under the old system, the FBI investigated assaults against DHS agents, often targeting protesters who had the audacity to make even fleeting physical contact with federal officers. Unfortunately for the government, nearly half of those felony assault cases ended in acquittal, dismissal, or withdrawal, according to a Times analysis. Turns out it's hard to prove someone intentionally assaulted a federal agent when the evidence suggests the agent was the one doing the assaulting.

Now, responsibility for investigating cases involving immigration officers would likely fall to Homeland Security Investigations - an arm of ICE. That's right: the agency would be investigating itself. Homeland Security Investigations lacks jurisdiction over civil rights violations, so the change would make it far less likely that shootings of unarmed people by ICE agents would be examined for potential federal lawbreaking. After all, who better to determine if a crime occurred than the people who might have committed it?