U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is expanding its workforce at an unprecedented pace, cutting training time and issuing combat gear to new recruits as the agency prepares for a surge in deportation operations, according to a new report.
The expansion follows the congressional approval of $76.5 billion in new funding for ICE, nearly 10 times its annual budget, with about $30 billion set aside for staffing. The agency plans to hire 10,000 additional deportation officers by the end of the year, more than doubling the current force of 6,500.
