Overview
- DHS rolled out a summer campaign recruiting deportation officers, criminal investigators, and attorneys through a new application portal.
- Prospects are being offered up to $50,000 in signing bonuses, student loan repayment or forgiveness, enhanced retirement, and premium overtime for ERO deportation officers.
- Hiring rules were overhauled with the maximum age cap removed, the minimum set at 21, and a focused re‑recruitment of former federal officers under “Operation Return to Mission.”
- ICE has expanded big‑city operations, including Los Angeles and Washington, and opened “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago, where roughly 250 arrests were reported in under two weeks.
- The acceleration faces organized protests, active court injunctions, and bottlenecks in courts and detention, and an Illinois encounter turned deadly when an agent shot a driver who allegedly dragged him with a car.