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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on January 2 a “historic hiring” of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after reporting that the number of agents deployed on the streets increased by 120%, effectively doubling their operational presence at the start of the new year.
According to a message posted on the official @DHSgov account on the social media platform X, ICE increased its agents from 10,000 to 22,000, which represents more than double the operational staff compared to the previous year.
"ICE has achieved a 120% increase in new agents on the streets this year, rising to 22,000 from 10,000," the agency stated on social media.
The organization stated that this increase in personnel will allow for the implementation of actions that, in their own words, "they told us would be impossible."
"With this new force of patriots, we will do what they told us could not be done. Stay tuned," added ICE, in a message suggesting an intensification of immigration and security operations in the country.
Migration context and controversy
The announcement comes amid a climate of tightening rhetoric and immigration policies, with an increasing emphasis on detentions, deportations, and internal control, especially targeting individuals in irregular immigration situations.
While conservative sectors have celebrated the reinforcement of ICE as a necessary measure to ensure law and order, organizations advocating for immigrants' rights have expressed concern about the impact that an increased presence of agents may have on migrant communities, including heightened fear, detentions, and family separations.
So far, ICE has not specified how or where most of these new agents will be deployed, nor what specific operations will be prioritized with the increase in personnel.
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