Ex-NFL star Charles Tillman cites Trump's immigration crackdown as reason for leaving FBI

Charles Tillman, a former NFL star who joined the FBI after his playing days, says he quit the bureau years later because he could not support the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Tillman disclosed the reason in an interview on The Pivot Podcast with former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark, saying he left the agency after several years because he did not agree with the policies surrounding immigration and how they were implemented. "FBI was great to me. I did awesome. I worked with an amazing group of individuals. I think some of the things that they’re doing now, I personally didn’t agree with ... immigration. I didn’t agree with how the administration came in and tried to make individuals do things against their — it didn’t sit right. An example being immigration, right? 'Everybody was told, ‘You’re going to go after the most dangerous criminals,’ but what you see on TV and what actually was happening was, people weren’t going after that. ... You have the ability to refuse an order,'" Tillman said.

Tillman, a two-time Pro Bowler who played for the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers, said he wanted to be "on the right side of history" and that he could walk away from a job if the policies felt misaligned with his conscience.

"Do I think there are individuals in the organization, do they like doing some of the stuff that they’re doing? Absolutely not. I think they hate it. I was in a different position because of my previous career," he added. "I made enough money to where I could just walk away and say 'You know what guys? I’m OK. I think I’m good. My first eight years, I’ve been solid, we were doing some good things. Some of the stuff you guys are doing now, I don’t necessarily agree with.' And that’s not in Chicago, that comes from Washington."

Two million illegal immigrants have been removed or self-deported from the United States since Jan. 20, DHS said this week, signaling a push to accelerate enforcement under the current administration. In less than 250 days, roughly 1.6 million people have voluntarily self-deported, with about 400,000 removed by federal authorities, the department described as a new milestone in the crackdown.

Tillman graduated from the FBI Academy in 2019 and joined the agency during Trump’s first term. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette before being drafted by the Bears in 2003. His father, Donald Tillman Jr., served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, a detail the Chicago Tribune has noted.

The remarks come as immigration policy remains a point of political contention, with supporters arguing that enforcement is critical to national security and opponents contending that some measures target noncriminal migrants and create humanitarian concerns. Tillman’s account adds to a broader discussion about the role of public servants who shift careers while navigating partisan policy debates.