Internal Email Details Handling of Misconduct Claims Amid Expansion Concerns
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is encountering challenges in keeping up with vetting new hires during its unprecedented recruitment campaign. An internal email this week outlined procedures for addressing allegations of prior misconduct among recruits, highlighting concerns related to the agency's rapid growth.
The email, addressed to supervisors within ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and reviewed by , noted that the “high volume of new hires” combined with delayed background checks might cause uncertainty for field offices when allegations arise concerning conduct before joining the federal agency. It advised that such allegations be referred to the Internal Integrity Investigations Unit (IIU).
If a Field Office receives derogatory information about a newly hired employee’s conduct prior to ERO employment (eg, termination or resignation in lieu of termination from another law enforcement agency for misconduct), please refer the matter to IIU.
Under President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, thousands of ICE officers were hired last year to support the president’s immigration enforcement agenda. This rapid recruitment pace has raised questions about the thoroughness of vetting and the quality of new recruits.
Trump has publicly characterized migrants as criminals and burdens on U.S. communities, asserting that increased deportations are necessary following high levels of illegal immigration during the previous Democratic administration led by Joe Biden.
However, the largest group of individuals detained by ICE during the second Trump administration reportedly had a criminal record, according to . It is important to note that violating immigration law is a civil offense, not a criminal one.
Public support for Trump’s immigration policies has declined in recent months, particularly after federal officers arrested non-criminal individuals, including families and children, and engaged in confrontations with residents and U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated in January that it had hired 12,000 ICE officers in addition to an existing force of 10,000. However, a federal workforce database indicated fewer hires, resulting in a net increase of 6,200 officers when accounting for departures.
Lauren Bis, a DHS spokesperson, denied that ICE was experiencing difficulties processing background checks. She explained that the email was intended to inform supervisors about available resources.
“This was not highlighting any vetting problems, but rather a reminder of the services and resources ICE provides supervisors,” she said. “All new hires go through extensive background checks and continuous vetting when they are hired including criminal and financial checks.”
DHS also noted in late January that the lower hiring figures in the federal database were due to delays in federal reporting.
An administration official revealed that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller strongly advocated last year for ICE to meet aggressive hiring targets before the end of the year.
“The president’s entire team has worked to make sure his agenda is implemented,”said a White House official in response to inquiries about Miller’s involvement.
Democrats and some former ICE officials have expressed concerns that the accelerated recruitment could allow unqualified or potentially dangerous candidates to join the agency. Senator Dick Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate, wrote a letter last year to the Homeland Security Secretary, comparing ICE’s recruitment surge to a Border Patrol hiring push in the 2000s that was followed by increased allegations against agents.
Durbin said ICE’s surge would “likely result in increased officer misconduct”.
Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official under the Biden administration, emphasized the importance of background checks in ensuring officers have a lawful history and identifying prior conduct that could expose them to blackmail.
“To speed, shortcut, or limit background checks or training puts the public and other law enforcement officers at risk,”she said.
Some recruits have been flagged for issues after being hired, according to one current and one former U.S. official who spoke to on condition of anonymity to discuss internal operations.
In one case last year, two recruits were identified as suspected members of the MS-13 gang based on their tattoos while attending the training academy in Georgia, the former official said. Additionally, at least five other trainees were dismissed when ICE discovered they had active arrest warrants, the former official added.
“They weren’t completing the background checks before they would get to the academy,”the former official stated.
One recruit was escorted out of an ICE office in February after a background check issue was detected, according to the current official. ICE does not release data on the number of new hires it has terminated. NBC News reported in October 2025 that ICE had dismissed more than 200 recruits since the hiring surge began, citing internal data.
In another office, approximately one-third of new hires are awaiting completion of delayed background checks, including some who have already graduated from training, the official said.
Public Opinion on Immigration Enforcement
A recent /Ipsos poll published on Thursday revealed that most Americans agree with the Trump administration’s stance that immigrants living illegally in the U.S. should be deported, but generally disapprove of the administration’s aggressive tactics, such as deploying masked agents in tactical gear who have clashed with U.S. citizens.
The six-day poll, which concluded on Monday, highlighted both the broad appeal of Trump’s focus on immigration enforcement and the widespread disapproval of his methods, factors that could influence the upcoming congressional midterm elections in November.
Overall, 61% of respondents—including 92% of Republicans and 35% of Democrats—expressed support for deporting unauthorized immigrants.
The poll also found that nearly three-quarters of Black Americans and 72% of Hispanic respondents disapprove of the administration’s deportation tactics, compared with 51% of white respondents.
