People attending an ICE job fair to help fill vacancies for deportation officers and attorneys, in Arlington, Texas. — Reuters
UNDER US President Donald Trump, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has become the driving force of his sweeping crackdown on migrants.
Bolstered by record funding and new latitude to conduct raids, the agency is operating at full throttle – but staff are struggling with long hours, high quotas and growing public outrage.
Two current and nine former ICE officials said the agency is grappling with burnout and frustration as agents scramble to keep pace with Trump’s enforcement agenda.
ICE launched a recruitment drive recently to hire thousands of new officers as quickly as possible, but that process will take months or even years.
All those interviewed backed immigration enforcement in principle.
But they criticised the administration’s push for arrest quotas that have led to the detention of thousands with no criminal record, including long-term green card holders, legal visa-holders and even some US citizens.
Most of the officials requested anonymity, citing fears of retaliation.
Americans have been inundated with images of masked agents in tactical gear handcuffing people on neighbourhood streets, at worksites, outside schools, churches and courthouses, and even in driveways. Videos of arrests have gone viral, fuelling public anger over the tactics.
Soaring arrest numbers
Under Trump, daily arrests by ICE’s 21,000-strong workforce have surged – up more than 250% in June compared with a year earlier, though the figure dipped in July.
Trump has said he wants to deport “the worst of the worst”, but ICE figures show a sharp rise in non-criminals being swept up.
Data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, shows arrests of people with no charges or convictions other than immigration violations averaged 221 per day during Trump’s first six months, compared with 80 per day under former President Joe Biden a year earlier.
Overall, 69% of immigration arrests under Trump were of people with criminal convictions or pending charges.
Some ICE investigators expressed frustration that hundreds of agents normally focused on serious crimes such as human trafficking and transnational gangs had been reassigned to routine immigration enforcement.
‘National emergency’
In an interview, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan acknowledged that reassignments and long hours had caused frustration but insisted the measures were justified.
“There’s some staff that would rather be doing other types of investigations, I get that, but the president declared a national emergency,” he said.
Homan, who spent three decades in immigration enforcement, argued morale would improve as recruitment gathered pace.
“I think morale is good. I think morale will get even better as we bring more resources on.”
But senior ICE officials face another source of stress: the constant threat of being removed for failing to produce results.
Several leadership changes since Trump took office in January have reinforced that pressure, according to five of the officials interviewed.
A senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official downplayed morale concerns, saying officers were mainly worried about assaults and political criticism.
“ICE personnel are excited to be able to do their jobs again after being subjected to limits under Biden,” the official said.
Push for quotas
At the heart of the discontent is the White House’s demand for ICE to ramp up arrests to around 3,000 per day – 10 times last year’s rate under Biden.
In some cases, raids have gone awry after officers followed faulty leads generated by artificial intelligence, resulting in wrong addresses, mistaken detentions or heightened risks to agents.
“The demands they placed on us were unrealistic. It was not done in a safe manner or the manner to make us most successful,” one current official said.
During recent raids in several US cities, ICE teams have been confronted by angry residents demanding identification or chasing them out of neighbourhoods.
“In a lot of communities, they’re not looked upon favourably for the work they do. So I’m sure that’s stressful for them and their families,” said Kerry Doyle, a former top ICE legal adviser.
Public backlash
ICE already faced intense criticism during Trump’s first presidency, when “Abolish ICE” became a rallying cry for activists and Democrats.
But its more aggressive recent tactics have pushed the agency back into the spotlight.
Trump’s public approval rating on immigration has slipped to 43% in an August Reuters/Ipsos poll, down from 50% in March, as Americans grow wary of heavy-handed enforcement.
Reports of arrests of students on campuses, parents at school drop-offs, men at bus stops and labourers outside hardware stores have fuelled outrage.
Agents have smashed car windows and dragged people out, according to witnesses.
One former ICE official said colleagues were initially thrilled that “the cuffs are off”. But several months later, he added, they were “overwhelmed” by the numbers demanded.
“They would prefer to go back to focused targeting. They used to be able to say: ‘We are arresting criminals.’”
Big money, big recruitment
Congress in July passed a Republican-backed spending package giving ICE more funding than almost any other federal law enforcement agency – US$75bil over just four years. The package included funds to detain at least 100,000 migrants at any one time.
The administration’s vigorous recruitment drive aims to hire 10,000 officers over four years.
In a campaign more akin to wartime enlistment than government hiring, ICE rolled out posters and slogans like “America needs you”, alongside ads on Instagram and YouTube.
Homeland Security said more than 115,000 “patriotic Americans” had applied, though it did not specify the timeframe.
The drive resembles a mid-2000s hiring surge for Border Patrol agents, which critics say led to corruption and misconduct.
Asked about the risk of lowering standards, Homan insisted ICE would prioritise “quality over quantity”.
“Officers still need to go through background investigations, they still need to be vetted, they still need to make sure they go to the academy,” he said. — Reuters
