The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began to lay off some of the thousands of agents hired during its accelerated recruitment campaign, after subsequent reviews identified issues in their backgrounds or performance.
The measure affects part of the 12,000 new officers and agents who were added during the agency's historic expansion, which increased its operational force from about 10,000 to 22,000 personnel, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in January.
An investigation by The Washington Post revealed this week that ICE has been quietly firing some of these recruits. Three former DHS officials told the newspaper that among the reasons are warning signs in backgrounds that should have been detected prior to hiring and performance issues.
Doubts about the process are not new. Associated Press (AP) reported in early September on the complaint of a senior ICE official responsible for overseeing background investigations, who warned that the agency was making final job offers without having completed preliminary checks such as fingerprint verification, identity confirmation, and credit history.
Now, The Daily Wire, citing several current ICE agents under anonymity, claims that some of the new recruits participated in operations and arrests on the streets while their background checks were still pending.
The agents consulted by that medium also questioned the preparedness of some of their new colleagues and recounted situations in which newly hired staff were unsure how to respond to individuals resisting during operations.
ICE did not specifically respond to The Daily Wire regarding whether it allowed recruits with incomplete background checks to make arrests.
The agency did defend its procedures and asserted that its Office of Professional Responsibility applies the relevant standards to evaluate each candidate. It also explained that certain candidates may receive a temporary status that allows them to begin training while a complete background investigation is finalized.
The controversy arose after ICE also expedited the training of its new agents. The in-person program was reduced to 42 days, compared to the previous duration of about 72 days. Since July, the agency has reverted to a program lasting approximately 71-72 days, according to information provided by ICE and DHS officials to various media outlets.
In January, it was revealed that the rapid expansion had already caused problems in preparing new staff. At that time, NBC News disclosed that an error in an artificial intelligence tool used for sorting applicants led to some recruits being sent to field offices without having received the appropriate training.
The recruitment campaign was part of ICE's expansion to strengthen the immigration operations of the Donald Trump administration. The agency offered incentives that included hiring bonuses of up to $50,000 to attract candidates.
The current review and layoffs once again put under scrutiny the speed at which ICE doubled its operational force and the controls applied to the thousands of agents hired during that process.
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