From the moment Donald Trump returned to the presidency, ICE has been on a recruitment drive. They openly described this as “wartime recruitment,” making it clear that they needed to rapidly expand to execute the new administration’s fierce crackdown on immigrants.
The Trump administration duly provided tens of billions in funding, specifically earmarking about $8 to $30 billion for personnel-related costs, with the goal of hiring roughly 10,000 new ICE agents. Prospective candidates were enticed by some extravagant promises, like $50,000 signing bonuses, and up to $60,000 in student-loan repayments.
