Trump administration criticised over plan to recruit 10,000 immigration officers
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a major recruitment drive to hire thousands of new immigration officers, sparking concerns from human rights advocates and former officials about potential misconduct and abuses.
The agency is seeking to add 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and 3,000 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents by the end of the year, backed by $170bn in federal funding for immigration enforcement.
The expansion comes as President Donald Trump has pledged to carry out what he calls “the largest deportation operation” in US history. His deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, has set a target of 3,000 immigration-related arrests a day.
Incentives and relaxed standards
To meet hiring targets, DHS is offering recruits a signing bonus of up to $50,000 and up to $60,000 in student loan repayment. The minimum recruitment age has been lowered from 21 to 18, and training periods have been shortened from 13 weeks to eight.
Officials say the changes will allow them to get officers into the field more quickly. But critics argue the move could worsen accountability problems in agencies that have long faced allegations of excessive force, corruption and abuse.
Fears of misconduct
Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee, a rights group monitoring the border, said: “Abusive practices, misconduct and a sense of impunity have long existed within these agencies. There are systemic problems with accountability.”
Past expansions of border forces have also drawn criticism. Between 2005 and 2011, the number of CBP agents nearly doubled, and later investigations revealed that some recruits were linked to drug cartels.
In recent years, individual officers have been convicted of crimes ranging from sexual assault to bribery. Watchdog groups warn that rapid hiring, with reduced vetting and training, risks repeating such mistakes.
Concerns about extremism
Some former officials say the recruitment campaign could open the door to far-right extremists seeking to join. Scott Shuchart, a former senior ICE official, warned of “people who want to be Trump’s private army, the insurrectionists, the Proud Boys, the Klansmen” entering the ranks if background checks are not thorough enough.
Others have raised concerns about the department’s recruitment messaging, which has used slogans such as “Defend your culture!” and “Secure the Golden Age”. Critics say such language echoes white nationalist rhetoric, though DHS has defended the campaigns as patriotic appeals.
‘Recipe for disaster’
Advocates argue that cuts to training and oversight could have long-term consequences. Noah Schramm of the ACLU of Arizona said: “They are rushing the hiring of these sensitive positions while gutting the institutions responsible for ensuring oversight … It’s a recipe for disaster.”
The DHS has not commented publicly on the criticisms, but officials insist the recruitment drive is necessary to strengthen border enforcement and respond to what they describe as historic levels of irregular migration.
