Overview
- Homeland Security says ICE now employs more than 22,000 officers and agents after bringing on over 12,000 hires, a roughly 120% jump since July.
- The agency received more than 220,000 applications and surpassed its original goal of hiring 10,000 within a year.
- Recruitment incentives include signing bonuses up to $50,000, student loan repayment, and the removal of an age cap that now allows applicants as young as 18.
- ICE says some new officers are already in the field, with training shortened from about six months to roughly six weeks and the federal training center scaling back non-ICE courses to speed deployment.
- DHS’s inspector general is investigating ICE’s hiring and training, as critics cite risks from rapid expansion and earlier reports of widespread fitness-test failures at a Georgia academy.