Federal agents carry guns, make arrests and can deprive people of their liberties. The government should be exceptionally careful about whom it entrusts with those powers. A Post investigation shows that Immigration and Customs Enforcement fell short as it rapidly expanded, confusing a bigger force with a better one.
After activists hacked a Department of Homeland Security employee database, The Post verified the records and performed background checks on about 300 of roughly 1,500 ICE officers and agents identified as new hires since President Donald Trump returned to office. The review found at least 19 who faced allegations of misconduct, criminal charges or other red flags in previous law-enforcement jobs.
At least five were involved in use-of-force incidents. Five were named in lawsuits that resulted in settlements. At least six were fired or decertified, or had resigned under threat of dismissal. Not every allegation would disqualify an applicant, but experts say most warranted a closer look.
Consider one of the hires. As a police officer, he confronted a man holding a “God Bless the Homeless Vets” sign outside city hall in Waveland, Mississippi, asked for identification and threatened arrest. The activist later sued the police department. Asked during a 2024 deposition in that case what the First Amendment protects, the officer repeatedly said he did not recall. He also could not recall the basic meaning of the Fourth Amendment. ICE hired him as a deportation officer.
An immigration officer who questions people, makes stops, enters private spaces and encounters protesters ought to know those two amendments. The First protects criticism of government. The Fourth protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
DHS says ICE follows vetting rules, though some recruits receive temporary status while background checks are pending. That raises an obvious question: Why put an armed officer on the job before the government has finished deciding whether he is fit for it?
In July, one of the officers hired during the accelerated recruitment drive fatally shot a 25-year-old man during an enforcement operation in Maine. He reportedly told relatives that he acted in self-defense, saying the man tried to run him over, but his background included years of troubling allegations in family-court records, and a Maine judge had recently found one of his claims in a child-support case not credible. The shooting remains under investigation, but it’s a reminder of why background checks belong before, not after, the government puts someone in a position to make life-and-death decisions.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act appropriated about $30 billion for ICE enforcement and deportation operations, more than tripling the agency’s budget and fueling the hiring spree. ICE aimed to add 10,000 personnel and offered signing bonuses of up to $50,000. DHS says the agency hired 12,000 officers and agents by January.
Trump won a mandate to enforce immigration law, not to lower professional standards. Congress should demand regular disclosure of hiring, vetting and dismissal data before providing more money for expansion. ICE should finish background checks before deploying armed recruits, maintain full-length training in de-escalation and test trainees on the rights they swear an oath to protect. Enforcing the law begins with knowing it. For ICE officers, the First and Fourth amendments are a good place to start.
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