ICE to Hire 5,000 Staff for Trump Deportation Campaign
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to hire 5,000 new employees by year-end to expand deportation efforts using over $100 billion in congressional funding.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to hire 5,000 new employees by the end of 2026 to support President Donald Trump's deportation campaign. Funded by more than $100 billion in congressional appropriations, the expansion will increase the agency's workforce by approximately 17 percent to over 34,000 personnel, with most new recruits serving as deportation officers responsible for arrests and case management.
This recruitment drive follows a period of record-breaking enforcement activity, including 50,925 arrests in August 2026 and 262,768 total detentions between January and August. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that the current hiring surge is an outgrowth of new funding and is unrelated to attrition from previous waves.
However, the agency faces scrutiny over vetting processes. A previous hiring surge that grew the workforce to 29,000 by July resulted in the removal of hundreds of recruits due to inadequate screening. Currently, nearly 7,500 employees from that wave are still awaiting completed background checks. Critics and former officials warn that rapid hiring increases risks of misconduct and national security threats, citing a recent fatal shooting in Biddeford, Maine, involving a recruit hired during the previous surge.
