Some 100,000 people have already applied to join the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement push, after a huge boost in funding made room for thousands of new roles, even as the agency reportedly struggles with wading through the crush of new applicants to find those both qualified and willing to live in parts of the country where ICE intends to step up enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Tuesday that it had seen a rapid increase in interest in roles at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since its recruitment campaign began in July, but some experts have raised concerns around vetting and training.
Why It Matters
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has promised to deliver on President Donald Trump‘s plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants over the next four years, with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act providing billions in extra funding to ICE, including for recruitment of 10,000 new agents. Opponents have warned that ICE is already overstepping its role, leading to mistaken or unnecessary arrests of undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens.
What To Know
ICE began its recruitment push shortly after Trump signed the $45 billion tax and spending bill into law, which sends $75 billion to ICE over four years, $30 billion of which is specifically earmarked for hiring. The agency is offering signing bonuses up to $50,000, student loan payments, tuition reimbursement and starting salaries that can approach $90,000.
Those incentives appear to have worked, along with the removal of age caps that followed feedback from supporters on social media, who said they would join up if they had not aged out.
But whether the flood of applicants are qualified for the jobs ICE is hiring for is another question. Time reported Tuesday that DHS was struggling to find people who can meet even the relatively minimal qualifications for entry-level enforcement roles. Officials were also said to be having trouble finding enough applicants who live in areas where agents are most needed, such as in Democrat-majority sanctuary cities.
Despite the apparent enthusiasm, the Trump administration has also asked former ICE and border agents who retired over the past few years to return to work if they are willing, likely because they would need minimal training and be ready to work sooner.
The Trump administration has said that thousands of additional agents are needed to deliver on its promise of mass deportations, along with increasing detention capacity from around 47,000 beds to around 100,000. ICE is also struggling with its current staffing and resources to meet the White House’s lofty goal of 3,000 immigrant arrests per day.
During the surge in new immigrant arrivals during the Biden administration, both ICE and its counterpart U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were stretched thin, with DHS deploying agents from elsewhere in the interior to help at the border. Now that the number of new arrivals at the border has slowed to a trickle, removal efforts are focused far more within the U.S.
The last big push for immigration enforcement recruitment came during former President Goerge W. Bush’s administration when 8,000 new Border Patrol agents were hired between 2006 and 2009, per the American Immigration Council (AIC), while the number of ICE agents also rapidly grew after the agency was formed in 2003.
During that same period, corruption allegations rose. Between 2007 and 2012, the number of employees arrested for misconduct spiked 44 percent, AIC found. Some were allegedly linked to cartels and criminal gangs which had looked to infiltrate CBP and ICE.
While changes have been made to recruitment and anti-corruption measures in the years since, the sharp inrease in immigration enforcement since January 2025 has raised concerns among immigration advocates and civil rights attorneys. Agents have consistently been seen wearing face coverings and have faced allegations of excessive force.
DHS has repeatedly denounced these concerns, saying its officers have faced a rapid rise in assaults from members of the public.
The Trump administration told Newsweek that all ICE recruits are required to go through medical screening, drug screening and complete a physical fitness test.
What People Are Saying
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told Newsweek: “While ICE touts significant application numbers, many questions remain about whether those applications will result in job offers. There are also concerns about candidate quality at a time when the agency is waiving normal recruitment rules.
“During a previous hiring binge at DHS under the Bush administration, the Border Patrol also relaxed standards to hire nearly 10,000 new agents in four years, leading to multiple cartel double agents being hired due to reduced vetting.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, in a statement shared with Newsweek: “In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country. This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”
What’s Next
With billions in new funding now pouring in, ICE has stepped up its visibility at job fairs, college campuses and other recruiting events. The agency has also embarked on a social-media-driven hiring strategy that leans heavily on American nostalgia and wartime propaganda.
The post Signing Bonuses, Loan Forgiveness and More: Americans Flock to Join ICE appeared first on Newsweek.
