ICE Hiring Surge Creates Background Check Backlog, Internal Email Reveals

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is facing challenges properly screening new recruits during a massive hiring push, according to an internal agency email obtained by Reuters. The document reveals concerns about delayed background checks and procedures for handling misconduct allegations among new hires.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement faces significant challenges screening new employees during an unprecedented hiring campaign, according to an internal agency communication obtained by Reuters Monday.

The message, distributed to supervisors within ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit, outlined concerns about the “high volume of new hires” and delayed security screenings creating complications for regional offices when misconduct allegations surface regarding actions prior to ICE employment.

“If a Field Office receives derogatory information about a newly hired employee’s conduct prior to ERO employment (e.g., termination or resignation in lieu of termination from another law enforcement agency for misconduct), please refer the matter to IIU,” the communication stated, referring to the agency’s Integrity Investigations Unit.

The Trump administration rapidly expanded ICE’s workforce last year, adding thousands of officers to support the president’s mass deportation initiative. The Department of Homeland Security reported hiring 12,000 new ICE officers to supplement an existing workforce of 10,000, though federal employment records show smaller numbers, resulting in a net increase of 6,200 positions after accounting for departures.

DHS representative Lauren Bis disputed suggestions that ICE was having difficulty processing security clearances, characterizing the email as informational guidance for supervisors.

“This was not highlighting any vetting problems, but rather a reminder of the services and resources ICE provides supervisors,” Bis explained. “All new hires go through extensive background checks and continuous vetting when they are hired including criminal and financial checks.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reportedly pressed aggressively during conference calls for ICE to meet ambitious hiring targets before the end of last year, according to an administration source.

“The president’s entire team has worked to make sure his agenda is implemented,” a White House representative responded when asked about Miller’s involvement.

Congressional Democrats and former ICE leadership have expressed concerns that accelerated recruitment could allow unsuitable or problematic candidates to join the agency’s ranks.

Senator Dick Durbin wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last year, drawing parallels to Border Patrol’s hiring surge in the 2000s that preceded increased misconduct allegations. The Illinois Democrat, who serves as Senate Majority Whip, predicted ICE’s expansion would “likely result in increased officer misconduct.”

Claire Trickler-McNulty, who served as an ICE official during the Biden administration, emphasized that thorough background investigations help verify candidates’ law-abiding history and identify potential vulnerabilities to coercion.

“To speed, shortcut, or limit background checks or training puts the public and other law enforcement officers at risk,” she warned.

Multiple recruits have encountered problems after being hired, according to current and former federal officials who spoke anonymously about internal operations.

Two trainees were identified as possible MS-13 gang members based on their tattoos while attending the training facility in Georgia last year, one former official disclosed. Additionally, at least five other trainees were terminated after ICE discovered active arrest warrants against them.

“They weren’t completing the background checks before they would get to the academy,” the former official revealed.

A current official reported that one new hire was removed from an ICE facility in February after background check issues were discovered.

ICE does not release statistics on dismissed recruits. However, NBC News reported in October that the agency had terminated more than 200 recruits since the hiring surge commenced, citing internal records.

At one location, approximately one-third of new employees are awaiting completion of stalled background investigations, including some who have already finished training, according to the current official.