The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a recruitment drive to hire “brave and heroic Americans” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to tackle illegal immigration, the DHS said in a July 29 statement.
The “Defend the Homeland” recruitment initiative aims to hire individuals as federal law enforcement agents and remove “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets,” the statement said.
ICE is offering attractive incentives for new recruits, including signing bonuses of up to $50,000, student loan repayment and forgiveness options, overtime pay, and enhanced retirement benefits.
As Naveen Athrappully reports for The Epoch Times, recruitment materials will be distributed across major college campuses, law enforcement networks, job fairs, and cities nationwide starting this week, DHS said. ICE encourages Americans with a commitment to upholding the rule of law to apply, it added.
“Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in the statement.
“This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”
At present, ICE employs more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel across more than 400 offices in the United States and globally.
According to DHS, the ICE recruitment drive is backed by “significant new funding” from the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act that was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4. The OBBB Act has allocated $150 billion to support immigration enforcement.
The Act allocated nearly $30 billion to ICE for hiring and training additional personnel, including signing and performance bonuses.
While the Trump administration is strengthening ICE, Democrats are pushing forward measures they say are aimed at ensuring accountability from immigration enforcement agencies.
On July 8, Senate Democrats introduced the VISIBLE Act of 2025, which requires ICE officers, Customs and Border Protection personnel, and others engaged in immigration enforcement to display their name or badge number and the agency they represent during enforcement actions.
The bill would also prohibit the use of nonmedical face coverings by such personnel during these operations unless required for safety reasons or covert operations.
“When federal immigration agents show up and pull someone off the street in plainclothes with their face obscured and no visible identification, it only escalates tensions and spreads fear while shielding federal agents from basic accountability,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said the bill is aimed at strengthening trust between law enforcement and the public.
Lack of proper identification has “created confusion, stoked fear, and undermined public trust in law enforcement,” he said.
In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin rebutted such arguments.
Officers are facing a “nearly 700 percent increase in assaults,” she said, adding that some personnel have been doxxed or have been targeted along with family members. Protective gear, including face coverings, reduces these risks, McLaughlin noted.
“While ICE officers are being assaulted by rioters and having rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at them, and our CBP officers are being shot, Sanctuary politicians like Alex Padilla and Cory Booker are trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorists,” she said.
In a July 20 statement, DHS said it has achieved more in six months under the Trump administration in terms of keeping America safe than most administrations achieve in their entire terms.
More than 300,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested under the Trump administration so far, it said, adding that 70 percent of ICE arrests were of criminal illegals with convictions or criminal charges. Funding from the OBBB will allow ICE to arrest and remove “even more criminal aliens,” DHS said.