A career official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement blew the whistle on the agency’s problematic hiring practices and found himself interrogated and sidelined for 10 months, according to a new report.
The former unit chief – who voted for President Donald Trump in both 2020 and 2024 – faced retribution after he filed a complaint about vetting missteps with the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The 17-year ICE veteran’s complaint reported an “unprecedented lowering of standards” that saw job offers go out before fingerprint, identity or credit checks were completed, according to the report.
Political appointees skirted background investigations altogether, he said.
“We chose as an agency to be more convenient rather than thorough,” he told the Times. “There was a potential to put lives at risk and to jeopardize national security.”
His complaint came amid a hiring surge fueled by $30 billion in new funding from Trump’s domestic policy bill, aimed at more than doubling ICE’s deportation force with 10,000 new agents. Training was cut from 10 weeks to six, and recruits reported for duty while background checks were still pending.
Rather than investigate his claims, DHS appears to have zeroed in on the whistleblower himself. Ten days after he filed his complaint — and just days after a Daily Mail story surfaced separate allegations involving Trump ally Corey Lewandowski’s security clearance — a department lawyer showed up to question him, not about his safety concerns, but about whether he had talked to reporters.
The lawyer grilled him for four hours and confiscated his laptop, according to the whistleblower and his attorney, Kevin Owen. He was then placed on leave for 10 months over unspecified “allegations of serious misconduct.” He was eventually reinstated with no finding of wrongdoing — and retired immediately after, in July.
“My client was of the belief this investigation by the agency’s attorneys was in good faith to vet his disclosure,” Owen said. “Instead they threatened him and put him on leave.”
The whistleblower said the ordeal took a toll on his mental health, leading him to check into a treatment program for several months. Still, he said he stands by ICE’s mission — just not how it has been carried out.
“It’s a betrayal of the public trust and everybody’s trust,” he said.
ICE has denied wrongdoing, saying it “diligently applies the proper personnel vetting regulations.” The DHS inspector general’s office is now conducting an audit into the agency’s vetting practices.
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