Hiring 10,000 ICE agents is easier said than done
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is struggling to quickly hire 10,000 qualified agents for mass deportations, even as it offers signing bonuses of up to a year's salary.
Why it matters: The agency has received a flood of applications and fast-tracked its training for some recruits. But it's a huge challenge to add 10,000 agents to a force of 6,000, and White House border czar Tom Homan acknowledges a "high fail rate" on physical standards.
- "I mean, if you can't run a mile and a half, you probably shouldn't be a federal law enforcement officer," Homan told Axios. Recruits have to do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.
- Some new recruits were described in an internal email as "athletically allergic," according to reporting in The Atlantic.
- Others are failing tests on immigration law: "I'm concerned that every agent is fully trained in immigration law, Fourth Amendment training," Homan said, referring to the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.
Between the lines: There's also continuous vetting to weed out poor recruits and bad actors, Homan told Axios.
- "They're trying to push ... the majority of the vetting up before they're even offered a job [and start training]," he said.
- Drug use and criminal histories are immediately disqualifying, Homan added.
Zoom in: "ICE has received more than 175,000 applications, for 10,000 roles," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Axios. She would not say how many of those new applicants have been hired.
- ICE is offering a signing bonus of up to $50,000 to new deportation officer recruits. The job's starting salary is just $49,739, according to one listing.
- The agency has spent more than $10 million on a national ad recruitment campaign and hosted in-person career fairs across the country.
The big picture: ICE agents have been accused in several court cases of illegally detaining U.S. citizens and of gratuitous use of force and tear gas.
- In Chicago, ICE agents now must wear body cameras, following a lawsuit.
- The agency said its officers are facing a drastic increase in assaults and that its tactics are justified.
- "You have the right to protest all you want, but when you turn criminal and you start throwing stuff at ICE, like in LA throwing Molotov cocktails ... these men and women are putting themselves at great risk," Homan said.
Flashback: Customs and Border Protection tried to hire about 10,000 new border agents in the 2000s, relaxing some training and requirements to reach recruitment goals.
- After the hiring spree, CBP saw an increase in corruption charges and convictions in its ranks, including for "smuggling of aliens and drugs," according to a Government Accountability Office report published in 2012.
