Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) saw a historic surge in recruitment levels within a year, hiring 12,000 officers. The number is a 120% increase in workforce, jumping from 10,000 to 22,000.
The agency received more than 220,000 applications.
“The good news is that thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed, we have an additional 12,000 ICE officers and agents on the ground across the country,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “That’s a 120% increase in our workforce. And that’s in just about four months.”
Over the summer, the Department of Homeland Security offered ICE recruits a maximum $50,000 signing bonus, student loan repayment and forgiveness options, 25% Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) for HSI Special Agents, retirement benefits, and an Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUI) for Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) Deportation Officers. “Recruitment materials will be distributed across major cities nationwide, college campuses, job fairs, and law enforcement networks beginning this week,” DHS said at the time. “ICE encourages Americans with a commitment to public safety, national service, and upholding the rule of law to apply today to jumpstart a fulfilling career in federal law enforcement.”
In August, DHS announced that it received more than 100,000 applications.
The agency’s hiring incentives have been met with criticism from Democrats, however, as senators wrote to DHS, ICE, and CBP officials, assessing the “hiring standards and training protocols in place to ensure that this rapid expansion does not compromise the integrity, professionalism, or readiness of the federal immigration law enforcement workforce.”
