US Immigration and Customs Enforcement shed more than 2,900 employees in the first six months of 2026, surpassing its annual record for staff departures even as the Trump administration pushes ahead with a rapid hiring drive to expand deportation operations.
Figures based on Office of Personnel Management data analysed by USA TODAY show an agency growing at extraordinary speed while simultaneously losing workers through resignations and terminations. Between January 2025 and June 2026, ICE hired nearly 12,000 full-time employees, more than during the entire previous decade.
