#ice-recruitment

#ice-recruitment

Under Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has gone on an explicitly fascist zag as it seeks to recruit 10,000 additional U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Robert Reich and others have detailed in recent weeks how ICE is now actively seeking to recruit extremist young men from gun shows, Ultimate Fight Club venues, rodeos, martial arts centers, and other haunts for men who tend to have a far right political vision.

According , when ICE identifies a recruit with prior law enforcement experience, it assigns them to its "Law Enforcement Officer Program." This is a four-week online course meant to streamline training for those already familiar with the legal aspects of the gig. Everyone else gets shipped off to ICE's Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia for an eight-week in-person academy. This more rigorous training includes courses in immigration law, gun handling, physical fitness exams, and more.

The plan, when I went to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Career Expo in Texas last August, was to learn what it was like to apply to be an ICE agent. Who wouldn't be curious? The event promised on-the-spot hiring for would-be deportation officers: Walk in unemployed, walk out with a sweet $50k signing bonus, a retirement account, and a license to brutalize the country's most vulnerable residents without consequence-all while wrapped in the warm glow of patriotism.

Recruitment advertisements under this plan would specifically target users whose devices ping near military bases, NASCAR races, UFC fights, college campuses, or gun and trade shows, as well as listeners of "patriotic" podcasts, country music, fitness, and true crime. A significant portion of the strategy hinges on getting influencers, commentators, and live streamers on board to boost ICE's message, with $8 million allocated to a new influencer program, Washington Post reported.

The ads are so widespread that TV viewers and social media users alike are seeing them everywhere, including on YouTube, Spotify, and LinkedIn. In one recent ad seen on LinkedIn, a stern-faced Uncle Sam points at the viewer. The message reads: "Join ICE Today" along with the note, "$50,000 signing bonus" at the bottom. Likewise, a 30-second TV spot that originally aired during the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards broadcast in September has been spotted nationwide in the months since.

A man from Tennessee who wanted to apply because of "the way things have become with the illegal immigration and the strain it's been on our economy." And a young Latino who was already catching flak for trying to work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A friend texted: "Oh hell no Ricardo I thought you was joking. I will not speak to you ever again if you become and ice agent ... You have a dad who was deported dude."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement held a hiring expo this week outside Dallas at a place called the Esports Stadium. Set between the Texas Rangers ballpark and the roller coasters of Six Flags, the arena was built for video-game competitions, and a wall of bright-blue screens welcomed job candidates at the entrance.

"ICE is recruiting. I don't know if you know this. There's going to be almost no age limit. You can be as young as 18 or as old as you want to be."